


Unexpectedly You

by kimurasato



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: M/M, Phantom Planet definitely never happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2020-05-14 15:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 84,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19276333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimurasato/pseuds/kimurasato
Summary: Danny got better at balancing his life since high school, mostly. He had a good job but still managed to deal with ghosts whenever they popped up to cause trouble. But can that peaceful life last for long?





	1. Chapter 1

Danny slammed his fist into the ghost's chest, sending them flying into the side of a building across the street. Before they had the chance to recover, he flipped open the Thermos and hit the button. The ghost screamed out the usual cry of revenge as they were sucked into the Thermos. Danny popped the lid back on then heaved a sigh as the tension melted out of him. It wasn't a very difficult fight. He hardly broke a sweat dealing with such a small fry. But it still got exhausting when all these small time ghosts cropped up almost every day. Thankfully, he could count on Valerie to take up the slack if he needed a break.

"Crap," Danny muttered under his breath. The whole fight with the ghost distracted him, and he forgot he was already running late to work. He was about to take off but stopped when he noticed a pair of young women standing in front of him. They smiled and blushed, batting their eyes, as they pushed the other to be the one to talk first. Danny resisted the urge to sigh again. This was hardly the first time some fans caught him after a fight, usually tourists at this point. "Do you want a picture?"

"If it's not too much trouble!" The two women crowded around him, giggling as one of them held up her phone to snap the picture.

Danny put on his usual friendly smile. In some ways, he had gotten used to this whole town celebrity thing. In other ways, it was still incredibly strange to him. People fawned over Phantom, the ghost who protected them from the dangerous ghosts that attacked Amity Park. But Danny Fenton was still very much invisible. At least, he hoped he had lost the whole "loser" label from high school.

The two women thanked him before hurrying off, whispering and giggling to each other. Danny shook his head as he watched them leave. The smile faded from his face, and he glanced toward the right side of the street just in time to catch the sight of blond hair before it disappeared behind a sign advertising the best bakery in Amity Park. With a roll of his eyes, Danny shifted to invisible as he hooked the Thermos to his hip. Then he walked over to the sign, not surprised to find a certain someone cautiously peaking around it again.

"Snooping around again?" Danny asked, his mouth tugging into a smirk.

He jolted with maybe the smallest yelp escaping him. Then he spun around, eyes searching but unable to find Danny standing right in front of him. "You could really give someone a heart attack doing that, you know?" He breathed out, placing a hand over his heart.

"I thought you would be used to it by now." Danny turned visible again, and blue eyes glared daggers at him.

With a huff, he leaned back against the sign, folding his arms in an attempt to look casual. "I thought you would have flown off to deal with some other ghost problem already."

Danny took a moment to sense the area, but no other ghost was anywhere nearby. "You don't have to worry about another ghost attacking. Not anytime soon at least." He copied him, folding his arms, and he lifted an eyebrow. "So tell me, Dash. Why are you lurking around?"

Dash gave him a dry stare. "Are we going to do this dance, Phantom? We both know you know what I do for a living, which means we both know you know why I'm here."

Danny leaned back so he could glance around the sign. "Well, you were here. You saw the fight. I'm sure you got plenty of photos to go along with whatever story you decide to write."

Dash pushed away from the sign and stepped forward, closing the distance between them. "I was thinking more like an exclusive interview. You've been protecting Amity Park for, what is it now? Fourteen years? You might hang around long enough for a fan to snag a photo with you, but you take off before any reporter can get a word out of you."

Danny shrugged. "There's not really much reason for an interview. I'm a ghost. I fight other ghosts. What else could there possibly be to know?"

"Ah!" Dash grinned as he held up a finger. "But there's the thing, don't you think? All the other ghosts, at the least the ones that turn up here, are only interested on attacking people, or at the very least causing trouble. So what makes you different?" He pointed his finger at Danny's chest. "Why do you protect everyone here instead of attacking people?"

Danny rolled his eyes at the question. "Maybe that's just my obsession." After the words left his mouth, he bit his tongue, his eyes widening marginally. Panic shot through him, and he pointedly didn't look at Dash.

"What?" Dash shifted a step closer, leaning in like he was waiting for Danny to whisper the answer into his ear. "What do you mean by your obsession?"

Danny winced inwardly. He was usually better about letting anything slip. "Who knows?" He shrugged, giving him a smirk. "You're the investigative journalist, aren't you?" Then he shifted back to invisible. Maybe taunting Dash wasn't the best move, but it was done and he would simply have to hope it didn't come back to bite him in the ass later.

Dash waved a hand in front of him, but Danny backed out of the way to avoid being smacked. Then Dash huffed. "One of these days, I'll get that interview."

Danny smiled, resisting the urge to snort out a laugh. He planned on never giving Dash that interview, but he admired how passionate Dash was about his job. He winced. Job. Right. That thing he was, again, forgetting about. He took off, flying away from downtown Amity Park.

Over the years, there were several times when he considered his ghost powers a curse. Flying, however, was the one thing he always loved about his powers. He always felt free when he was flying over the town. He loved the feel of the wind whipping past him. But now was not the time for a leisurely flight. He hurried to Axiom Labs, sitting outside of the downtown area.

Danny found a good place to land, well hidden from sight, then changed back to plain old Fenton. He straightened his clothes and ran a hand through his hair, though it never seemed to want to behave. Sighing, he gave up then headed for the front entrance. He checked the time as he walked through the door.

"Late again?"

Danny jerked his head up. "Ah," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "One of these days, I'll be on time." He glanced around then strode over to the receptionist's desk. "How mad is she, Oz?"

Oscar, though everyone called him Oz, stared flatly over the rim of his glasses. "I'll believe it when it actually happens." He returned his gaze to the computer in front of him. Danny had his suspicions that Oz played games on his computer more than he did actual work. "You're lucky she likes you, for some reason," he muttered the last part, but Danny didn't miss it. "She was pretty mad you were late, but your job is probably safe."

"Thanks," Danny said dryly as he moved away from the desk. Oz had never liked him, ever since he gave in and accepted the job from Vlad years ago. Danny tried not to let it bother him, but it felt a thorn in his side with every sneering comment Oz sent his way.

Shaking the whole thing from his mind, he headed back to the elevator. When it arrived on the lobby floor, he stepped in and punched the button for the upper floor where the conference room was. He wished he could use his powers to slip into the conference room unnoticed, but the door creaked the moment he opened it. Every eye was drawn to him. Danny quickly took his seat, hoping not to interrupt the meeting any more than he already had.

"So nice of you to join us, Mr. Fenton."

Danny sat up straight, refusing to sink down in his chair, even if he wished he could disappear in that moment. "My apologies, Ms. Gray. Car trouble."

Valerie narrowed her eyes, a look that felt like it could pierce right through him. Her hair was clipped short, the bangs sweeping across her forehead. In the black suit and simple soft yellow shirt, she had the intimidating boss look down, and just one look was typically enough to send employees running. "If there will be no more interruptions, let's continue. I'd like to finish this meeting before lunch." She turned back to the slide projected onto the wall and continued with the meeting like it was never interrupted.

Danny released his breath then focused on the meeting. He jotted down notes and answered every question Valerie tossed his way. Sometimes, it almost felt like she demanded more answers from him than the others, like she was testing him to make sure he had actually prepared for the meeting. The rational part of his brain reminded him that he missed half the meeting, and Valerie only focused on him because she already had time to speak with the other members in the meeting.

By the end of it, Danny wished the work day was over. He was exhausted and wanted to head back home to sleep the rest of the day away. The other members of the meeting gathered up their things and left the conference room. Danny hung back along with Valerie. When the last person filed out of the room, Valerie walked over and closed the door.

"I know we have this whole arrangement, but you're really pushing it when you show up late so many times in a week."

"I swear I was going to be here on time." Danny turned in his seat to face her. "I can't exactly plan for every ghost attack that happens."

"I know." Valerie sighed as she sat down in the chair next to his. "But I hope you aren't playing around."

"I take them down as fast as I can." He leaned back, slumping as he closed his eyes. "Why does it have to be so hard fighting ghosts and keeping up with a job?"

"And it was easy fighting ghosts while keeping up with classes?" Valerie cracked a grin.

"Of course not." Danny rolled his eyes. "I'm lucky I didn't fail out." He frowned. "For a while, I really thought I would." He glanced toward Valerie than turned his gaze to the big windows looking out over a wooded area. "Dash was there again."

"Wow." Valerie shook her head. "He really is determined to get a Phantom interview."

"Any way you can talk him out of it?"

"It's not like he's doing you any harm. And what are the odds he figures it out?" Valerie leaned over, lowering her voice. "Phantom's just a ghost, after all. Why would he suspect there's a living person behind him?"

"You say that now, but wait until it happens to you." Danny pointed at her. "Don't think he won't question who's behind the Red Huntress' mask."

"Ah, but I don't make a big show of myself. Not like you." She punched him on the shoulder. "You know, Kwan's back in town."

Danny blinked at the change in subject. "Okay." He cocked an eyebrow, waiting for more explanation.

Valerie sighed. "I don't know. I just feel like something's off? I know we were never close like he was with Dash, but I thought we were pretty close. We talked a lot. But since he came back, I feel like," she rolled a shoulder, "he's avoiding me?" Her mouth pursed. "So I'm having a night out. You know that bar Mirage?"

"Yeah," Danny said slowly, side eying her. "But why are you telling me?"

Valerie stared flatly. "Because I'm inviting you along, dipstick."

"Won't that be weird? It's not like they ever really liked me."

"First off, Kwan has always tried to be friends with people. Or, at the very least, treat them with kindness. Dash," Valerie shrugged, "can be an ass. But we're not fourteen anymore. Don't you think people deserve a second chance?"

Danny groaned. "You're really going to throw that back in my face?" He sighed. "Fine. What time do I have to be there?"

Valerie smirked in smug victory. "Let's say eightish."

Danny nodded as he gathered up his things. "And you really think drinking is going to make Kwan open up about whatever it is that's making him distant?"

"Doubt it." Valerie sighed as they both stood. "But I can hope he'll at least know that I'm here for him whenever he does want to talk to someone."

"I hope it works out for you." Danny placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. Then he sighed. "And I guess we should get back to our jobs. Wouldn't it be great if we only had to worry about fighting ghosts?"

"Sadly, fighting ghosts doesn't pay us." She patted him on the shoulder.

"But that's so much easier." Danny hung his head.

They left the conference room and headed off to their offices. When he reached his office, he closed the door then dropped into his seat. He enjoyed his work at Axiom Labs, as surprising as that was to him. He expected working under Vlad to be absolute torture. Vlad, however, spent most of his time manning his main business in Wisconsin, leaving Axiom Labs under Valerie's supervision. Some projects were assigned to him, but he was also given plenty of opportunity to work on his own projects. He liked it, but he still had some days where he didn't want to deal with any of it. He flipped through the several reports on his desk then heaved a sigh like he was expelling what little energy remained inside him with that one breath.

When the day finally came to an end, Danny sat back, stretching and yawning widely. He still had a lot of work to do, but he could poke around at it some more once he got home. After gathering up what he needed, he left his office. He passed by a few of the other Axiom Labs employees as he left. They nodded, waved, acknowledging each other, but beyond that, they weren't much for chatting. Danny frowned as he left the building. Maybe it was just him. He didn't really know much about any of the other employees beyond their names. Four years, and the most he interacted with people other than Valerie was whenever he had to work with someone on a project. Maybe Oz wasn't the only one at Axiom Labs who didn't like him.

Danny put it out of his mind, pushed it way down, as he headed home. He wasn't looking to make friends at work anyway. But maybe he would shoot a text to his friends later. Work kept them all fairly busy. Sometimes, they all failed to keep in touch like they used to.

When he got home, Danny dropped his work stuff off on the coffee table in the front room. Then he passed through the kitchen and headed down into his parents' laboratory. It had changed over the years, more junk gathering on the shelves and tables. Danny meant to work on cleaning it up a bit, but his progress was slow. He walked over to the Ghost Portal, checking on the filter first. Then he fitted the Thermos into the slot on the side panel.

"See you hopefully never," he muttered as he sent the ghost from that morning back into the Ghost Zone.

With that done, he set the Thermos on the nearby table and turned to walk back up to the kitchen. He covered his mouth as he yawned widely. First, he was going to take a shower. Then he could try to get a little more work done before he had to worry about meeting up with Valerie for a night of drinking.

"Ugh," he groaned. "She knows I can't get drunk." It was a little side effect of having ghost DNA, apparently, that they discovered after graduating from high school. He, Valerie, Sam, and Tucker decided to celebrate the night of graduation. Sam brought a bottle of alcohol from her parents' stash, which wasn't as secret as they thought it was. The other three all got a little tipsy from the alcohol, but Danny never felt anything from drinking. He wasn't entirely sure that was a bad thing, but if he was going to hang out with Dash as regular Danny Fenton, he thought the alcohol might help.

He reached the bottom of the stairs when a siren blared. He spun around, his eyes immediately drawn to the red flashing light over the Ghost Portal. His heart jolted. He rushed back toward the Ghost Portal. The black and yellow striped doors grew steadily redder in the center. He nearly reached it when a blast burst through the doors. He dodged. The blast glanced across his shoulder. He hit the ground with a grunt, his shoulder searing.

What was that? Danny gritted his teeth. How could any ghost break through the doors? He climbed to his feet. It should be impossible. Smoke curled and rose from the hole in the doors. Danny stumbled over to the Ghost Portal. He reached out for the red button on the side panel.

A hand shot out of the smoke, grabbing hold of Danny's throat. It squeezed, and he gasped. Laughter filled the air, deep and menacing. Danny clawed at the hand, tried to shift to intangibility, but the ghost was ready for that, shifting with him and keeping a tight hold on him. Then the ghost stepped through the busted doors of the Ghost Portal. Red eyes burned into him as dread washed over him.

"D-" Danny choked out. Then he hit the wall, thrown like a ragdoll, and crumpled to the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

"So you're coming tonight, right?"

Dash rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the little mom and pop grocery store. "Yes, Val, I'll be there. Is that even a question?" With a snort, he turned down the street. "It's for Kwan." He frowned. Until Valerie mentioned it, he hadn't even realized Kwan came back to Amity Park. And when he gave it some more thought, he realized he hadn't heard from Kwan in over a month. He felt a bit guilty about that. He could have easily reached out to his friend, but he let his own life keep him busy and distracted. "It'll be good to hang out again. Like old times."

"Like old times?" Valerie laughed. "Does that mean I'll find you puking in the bathroom toilet again?"

His face heated. "No!" Dash huffed. "I thought I told you to forget about that."

"Hm." Valerie's smirk could practically be heard through the phone. "I guess I forgot to forget."

"Sure you did." Dash scowled. "So what's up?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Dash turned the corner at the end of the street. "Val, I can hear it in your voice. There's something you're not telling me. What is it?"

"N-Nothing!" Her response came too quickly.

"Uh huh. Right. I _totally_ believe that," Dash said in a flat voice. 

"It's a surprise!"

Dash narrowed his eyes, even though Valerie couldn't see it. "A surprise? Like what?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."

"You didn't invite Paulina, did you?" Last he heard, Paulina was somewhere out in California. But that was over a year ago, and he didn't speak to Paulina anymore. Or rather, she refused to speak to him after he expressed his dislike for her boyfriend, who set off all kinds of warning vibes to him. The guy just seemed like a complete sleaze ball, but Paulina wouldn't hear a word of it. After that conversation, she cut him off and wouldn't even respond to any of his texts. Dash eventually gave up trying. He still loved Paulina, but he had no idea how she could still date that guy.

"No, it's not Paulina. She's on a trip to Hawaii right now."

"Let me guess. With Rob?"

"No, not with Rob. Ugh."

"I take it you didn't like him either?"

"Not even a little bit. But she broke up with him five months ago when she came home to find him in bed with another woman. He actually tried to ask her if she wanted to have a threesome."

"I knew he couldn't be trusted." Dash ground his teeth, wishing he could punch Rob in his ugly face for hurting Paulina. "Is she, um, okay?" He winced at how pathetic that question sounded.

"She was a bit of a mess right after the break up." Valerie sighed. "But she's picked herself up since then."

"That's good." Dash sighed in relief. He wanted Paulina to be happy. "So what's this surprise then?"

"You'll just have to show up to find out. See you there!"

Dash frowned when he heard the click of her hanging up on the call. He had the feeling he wouldn't like this surprise. Slipping his phone into his pocket, he just hoped the surprise wouldn't make the night unpleasant. He walked down the street, the plastic bag crinkling as it bumped against his hip with each step. He should have enough time to make it back to his apartment for a quick meal before he had to head out to meet up with Valerie and Kwan for drinks.

_BOOM!_

Dash stumbled. Cracks spread out over the street. People screamed and ran from the scene. Despite all the ghost attacks Amity Park experienced, people still got frightened, especially when it happened right next to them. As the dust cleared, Dash jerked his head up, watching as Phantom dropped out of the sky and landed a few feet from the impact point.

"Great," Phantom muttered, his fists glowing at his sides. "Now the city is going to have to repair the street."

Someone rose from the crater in the center of the street. He stood taller than Phantom, much more muscular, with his hair flaming on top of his head. He wiped a hand under his nose, smearing pink blood over his pale green skin. A low chuckle rumbled from him, and a smirk cut across his face. "I guess you're not so weak after all."

Phantom narrowed his green eyes, which flashed dangerously. "You caught me by surprise earlier. Trust me. That won't happen again."

Dash watched the scene carefully, his brow creasing. Who was this other ghost? And why did Phantom look so angry? Did they have some sort of past? It wasn't uncommon for Phantom to fight the same ghost again and again, but Dash couldn't recall a ghost like this one.

"It won't, huh?" The ghost held up his hand, flexing his fingers as he grinned like a madman.

Dash didn't like that look. It was sinister, evil, and left him with a cold feeling trickling down his spine. Then those red eyes snapped in his direction. Dash barely had a chance to gulp down the lump in his throat before a pink energy blast soared straight for him. He urged his feet to move, but they seemed rooted to the sidewalk, like they were stuck in the cement. Phantom appeared before him in an instant. A green shield raised before him protected them from the blast. Then the ghost's fist slammed into the shield.

"Going after innocent bystanders?" Phantom sneered. "That's so like you."

The ghost's mouth stretched wide, and his eyes danced with madness. "Or maybe I just know you too well." He laughed lowly.

Something in the way he said it set off alarms in Dash's head. There was a trick, somewhere. But Phantom's focus was on his anger toward the ghost. Dash squinted as his eyes darted around, trying to figure out what the ghost might be up to. Then the ghost brought around his other fist, glowing brightly, too bright. The shield shattered under the force of the punch. Dash's eyes widened. He responded on instinct, grabbing Phantom around the waist and tackling him to the ground. Then the blast exploded over them. If he had reacted a second slower, they would have been hit by it.

"Are you hurt?" Dash sat up, immediately searching for injury. A bit of green blood dripped from a cut above his left eye, but otherwise, Phantom looked okay.

"Does my pride count?" Phantom cursed under his breath. "He got away!"

"What?" Dash blinked then whipped his head around, scanning the street. He couldn't spot the other ghost.

"I can't sense him now." Phantom banged his fist on the sidewalk. Then he got to his feet. "I have to find him."

"Who was that?"

Phantom hesitated then glanced down at him. "Just someone from my past I thought I had dealt with." He squeezed his fist tightly. "And I won't let him hurt anyone again."

"Wait!" Dash reached for him, but Phantom launched into the air, leaving him grasping at nothing. Sitting back on his legs, Dash sighed. A million questions raced through his mind, and now he couldn't even try to get answers. But he knew Phantom had the important job of keeping Amity Park safe from dangerous ghosts. He wouldn't interfere in that, but he still wanted answers.

When he stood up, he spotted a few people cautiously peeking out from windows and doors, seeing if it was safe to come outside again. Dash shook his head. Just another average day in Amity Park. He checked the time as he continued down the street. He might have to change his idea for dinner if he wanted to be on time to meet Valerie and Kwan.

His mind kept wandering back to Phantom as he returned to his apartment. Phantom had grown a lot over the years since he first appeared in Amity Park. Not just physically or in terms of power and ability, but he matured, like anyone else. Maybe that was strange for a ghost. Plenty of the ghosts Dash saw remained virtually the same, even after many years. Maybe that was just another mystery about Phantom he would have to solve. But in recent years, Phantom didn't often let his anger show like it had in this fight. Whatever history he had with this ghost, it wasn't a good one.

Dash frowned as he entered his apartment. He would have to look through old archives of newspapers for the past fourteen years. Maybe he could find some hint of this ghost. Phantom said they had a past. There had to be something about this ghost. Right? He almost hated that he couldn't start digging into the mystery right away, but he was happy to spend a night with his friends.

After a quick bite to eat and washing up, Dash left his apartment again. He arrived at the bar several minutes later. Over the door was a sign with the name Mirage emblazoned on it. Standing just a few feet from the entrance, a young man blew out a puff of smoke before sticking his cigarette between his lips again. When he spotted Dash, he started to push away from the wall, but a dark glare from Dash had him shrinking back. The man looked like a scrawny kid with long greasy hair and wiry arms, not even twenty-one yet, perhaps hoping to bum a few bucks off anyone entering the club. Dash thought the kid should probably head home and put some effort into his education.

Entering the bar, Dash scanned the room. A smile tugged at his mouth when he spotted Valerie. He made his way over to the booth she occupied, having to squeeze past a few other patrons. He slipped into the booth, sitting opposite her.

"And I thought I was going to be late."

Valerie rolled her eyes, but she smiled. "And I was afraid all of you were going to blow me off." She took a sip from her beer. "Kwan still hasn't shown up."

Dash mirrored her frown then glanced toward the entrance. "And the surprise?"

"Also late." Valerie set her glass down with a secretive smirk.

"And you're still not going to tell me what it is?"

"This is supposed to be a fun night." She landed him with a glare as she pointed at him. "So I don't want you ruining it."

"See," Dash frowned skeptically, "when you say that, it makes me feel like I'm not going to like this surprise even more."

"It's going to be fine." Valerie grinned, but there was a slight hint of doubt in her eyes. "Probably. Oh! He's here!" She jumped up from the booth, hurrying off before Dash could even blink.

With a sigh, Dash turned to watch Valerie. But instead of spotting Kwan, like he expected, his mouth popped open when he saw Valerie drawing Fenton into a hug. He stood up, his mouth pressing thin, then made his way over to them. Why would Valerie invite Fenton to join them? Dash couldn't recall the last time he even saw Fenton. High school graduation? Probably. He glanced him over as he approached. Fenton was no longer the scrawny, long limbed teen, though Dash supposed he had started to gain some muscle before the end of high school. But since then, Fenton had definitely filled out, quite impressively.

"-Should probably," Fenton said and flicked his gaze up when Dash reached them. His mouth snapped shut.

"So this is the surprise?" Dash bumped his shoulder against Valerie's and lifted his eyebrow.

"You promised to behave!" Valerie wagged a finger in his face.

Dash held up his hands. "I haven't even done anything yet." But he understood now why she kept the surprise a secret. He didn't have the best relationship with Fenton. An understatement. But that was years ago. He liked to think he had matured since high school. He didn't place people into categories like A List or loser anymore.

"Should I," Fenton glanced back toward the entrance, shifting his weight, "go?"

Dash couldn't blame Fenton for feeling uncomfortable, after all the shit he put him through during high school. He slapped a hand onto Fenton's shoulder. "Let's grab some beer and go sit down." He pulled Fenton along with him as he headed for the bar. When he glanced back, he caught a worried look from Valerie, but he grinned to reassure her.

"Look," Fenton said as they reached the bar. "If you want me to go, just say it."

Dash leaned on the bar. "And if I made you leave, Valerie would kick my butt. And we both know how strong she is."

"Yeah." Fenton winced.

"It really doesn't bother me that you're here. You want a beer?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Fenton shrugged.

Dash ordered two beers from the bartender. "Honestly, I'm kind of surprised you stuck around here. I would have thought you'd jump at the chance to get out this town."

Fenton rolled his eyes. "Well, there was this thing called college."

"Right." Dash nodded. "But why come back then? Didn't your sister stick to, um-" He scratched his head, trying to recall where Jazz ended up going to college. She had a lot of scholarship offers, if he recalled correctly.

"She's in Arizona now." Fenton shrugged. "I have no idea why she decided to go there when she could have started her practice anywhere. But she seems happy there."

Dash nodded. "Well, being happy is the most important part." He picked up one of the glasses the bartender set down between them.

"But why did you come back?" Fenton sipped his beer. "Since we're on that topic. It seemed like you were doing pretty well in New York."

Dash almost choked on his beer. He managed to swallow then looked at Fenton, raising an eyebrow. "You knew I was in New York."

Fenton rolled his eyes. "It's not like I keep tabs on you or something. You covered a case Sam tried. I read that article." He moved away from the bar, carrying his beer with him over to the booth where Valerie waited for them.

Dash shook his head as he followed. Of course that was the reason. He almost forgot about that case since it was a couple years ago, but at the time, it was a case that got a lot of news, everyone across the country was talking about it. He sat down at the booth again. "So what made you think to invite Fenton tonight?"

"Oh, you know," Valerie shrugged, "recently broke up with someone. I thought he could use a night out too." Her mouth quirked upward, and her eyes twinkled.

Fenton scowled behind his beer glass. "Let's not talk about _that_."

"Well, now you really have my attention." Dash smirked, raising his glass as Fenton scowled at him.

"Forget it," Fenton snapped with a firm glare.

"Okay. Okay." Dash held up a hand. "We won't talk about it."

"What did I miss?" Kwan gave him a light shove to scoot over so he could slide into the booth.

"You made it!" Valerie grinned. "You had me worried for a minute." She kicked Kwan lightly in the shin under the table.

"Sorry." Kwan gave her a wincing smile. "I tried to get off sooner, but my boss wouldn't let me off early." He glanced across the table, his eyebrow raising curiously. "Danny!" He stared at Valerie then turned his gaze onto Dash.

"Hey! I can be civil!" Dash scowled at him and grabbed his glass to take a long gulp of his beer.

Kwan laughed. "I wasn't questioning that."

Dash rolled his eyes. "So what brought you back to this place again?" He set his glass down on the table. "I thought you were happy off in," he waved a hand, "Portland?"

"It was Seattle." Kwan shrugged. "I don't know. I guess - People come here as, like, a tourist thing. They maybe get to see a ghost, and they get to tell all their friends about it. But they don't _really_ know what it's like to live here."

"Ah." Dash nodded. "I get that. They never experienced what it was like to have a new ghost attacking town every week."

"The ghosts today are hardly as scary as they were back in high school," Valerie said. "Though I guess you didn't mind so much when Ember showed up."

Dash rolled his eyes. "Everyone was under her spell."

"I guess we all have experiences we can't really share with people outside of Amity Park," Fenton spoke up then, but when they all looked at him, he shrank back.

Dash felt the urge to sigh heavily at the reaction. Fenton clearly still saw him as the bully he was in high school. Dash didn't know if he could change that opinion. Was it even worth it to try? He doubted he would be seeing Fenton that often. Turning back to Kwan, he slapped a hand onto his shoulder. "Well, I'm glad you're back. We'll definitely have to hang out more." He glanced out the corner of his eye and saw Fenton relax with the attention off him again.

The night continued with drinking and chatting. Once relaxed, Fenton contributed more to the conversation. Dash was maybe a little surprised to find he didn't completely hate having Fenton there. He found his eyes drawn to him when Fenton laughed at something Kwan or Valerie said. When he caught himself doing that, he quickly averted his gaze, chugging down a gulp of his beer.

"Well," Valerie finished off her second beer, the glass hitting the table with a bang, "I have early meetings tomorrow that I need to be prepared for."

"I should probably be heading home too," Kwan admitted with a wince of apology. He followed Valerie in sliding out of the booth. "But we can hang out again later. Weekends are usually good."

"I can make it to anytime you want to set something up." Dash raised his glass then took a sip.

"Unless a big story comes up," Valerie said, her voice teasing.

"It doesn't happen as often as you would think," Dash argued.

"Then see you sometime on the weekend." Kwan waved. Then he and Valerie left them alone in the booth.

Dash glanced across the table where Fenton chewed on his lower lip, looking around the bar. Right. He tried not to sigh out heavily. When Valerie and Kwan were here, it was easy for Fenton to feel relaxed. With only Dash, he was probably wondering how soon to expect being punched, or something.

"I guess we don't really have to hang out around here," Dash said, and Fenton jerked his gaze back to him. He almost laughed at the puzzlement on Fenton's face. "If you want."

Fenton glanced around the table with all their empty glasses. "Yeah, I guess it probably is time to go." He moved to slide out of the booth.

Dash followed, and they went to pay their tabs. When they left the bar, Dash breathed in deeply, enjoying the clean night air. "I haven't had a night out like this in a while." He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he turned to walk down the street.

"Yeah, I guess I haven't either." Fenton walked beside him, nervous and uncertain. "So, um, did Kwan seem, uh, off to you or anything?"

Dash stopped walking and pinned a hard glare on Fenton. "Why are you asking something like that?"

Fenton held up his hands. "Don't get mad!" He looked away, rubbing at his neck. "Valerie mentioned he seemed distant to her. I don't know him as well as the two of you do. I didn't know if maybe I was just seeing something that wasn't there."

"Oh." Dash frowned, not sure how he felt about that. "I guess now that you mention it," he mumbled after some thought, "it did feel like something was up with him."

"I wonder if something happened to make him come back here."

"He'll tell us when he's ready." Dash shrugged, but his concern was growing. "You can't force something out of someone."

Fenton's eyebrow arched upward for half a second before he went back to looking worried about Kwan. "I guess you have a point."

"Trust me. I know Kwan. If you push, he'll just close up more. It's best to just be there until he decides he's ready to open up." Dash recalled the last time he tried getting Kwan to open up back in high school. Kwan avoided him for nearly two weeks. He hated those two weeks.

Fenton nodded, looked around, then turned back to Dash. "Uh, well, it's pretty late."

"Right. Work and all that adult stuff to worry about." Dash almost forgot he had research he wanted to do. Maybe he would leave that for the morning. "See you around, Fenton."

"Yeah," Fenton said in uncertainty, maybe a little surprise. "See you around, Dash." They waved as they parted ways.


	3. Chapter 3

"You were right," Danny said as he walked up to the front door. "Kwan seemed normal enough, but something was definitely bothering him."

"I knew it!" Valerie sighed into her phone. "I just hope he won't take forever to come out and talk about it."

"I'm sure he'll talk to you eventually." Danny unlocked the door. "He's not the type to keep things from his friends for too long." He pushed the door open then flicked on the lights of the front hall. "Now, can we get back to what I was going to say before Dash interrupted us?"

"Oh, right. What was that about? You looked pretty freaked out when you arrived."

"Remember when I told you about that future when I turned evil?"

"Yeah," Valerie said slowly. "Wait!" Alarm shot through her voice. "Are you trying to tell me that version of you is back? But isn't - How did he escape?"

"I'd like to know that too." Danny sighed as he headed down the hall. "But first we should focus on-" He stopped mid-step. Why was the kitchen light on? "I'll call you back." He hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket. He crept slowly down the hall, his fists glowing green. When he reached the kitchen door, he charged into the room, spotted the ghost standing by the refrigerator, then fired an energy blast at him.

"Do you," Dan turned to him, his mouth set in a deep frown, "have something against Rocky Road Ice Cream?"

"What are you doing here, Dan?" Danny demanded, pointing at him. His hard glare flicked toward the ice cream splattered across the kitchen wall. "And why are you stealing my ice cream? That's not, uh, the most dastardly plan you've ever had." The whole scene before him left him rather puzzled.

Dan rolled his eyes. "What do you think I'm doing here?"

Danny glanced around the kitchen before landing his narrowed gaze back on Dan. "I assume something other than stealing ice cream. Like, I don't know, destroying the world." He stood up straighter, something occurring to him. "How did you manage to hide your presence from me?"

"Because," Dan grinned widely, showing off his sharp fangs, "I'm better than you."

"Yeah, no, that can't be it."

Dan copied him in a nasally voice as he sneered. "Whatever. Clockwork sent me."

Danny stared at him, those three words making his brain grind to a halt. Clockwork sent him. "What does that mean?" he shouted, waving his hands. "Why would Clockwork send you? Why would Clockwork even let you out of the Thermos?"

Dan snorted. "You expect to get a real answer from him?" He folded his arms. "All I know is he let me out of that damn Thermos and told me to help you. He didn't exactly give any real details about what I'm supposed to help you with."

Danny hated to admit it, but that did sound like Clockwork. But why would he send Dan of all the ghosts in the Ghost Zone to help him? And help with what? Aside from some small fry ghosts, Amity Park was pretty quiet. He frowned, rubbing his chin. Something had to be coming if Clockwork was already preparing for it. He jerked his head up when he heard the freezer open.

"You're out of ice cream," Dan announced.

Danny scowled. "If you're going to eat my food, you're going to chip in and pay for it."

Dan lifted an eyebrow. "Aren't you forgetting something?" He waved a hand by his face. "Ghost."

"And I know you're perfectly capable of giving the illusion of being alive. Or have you forgotten how you impersonated me before?"

"I guess you have me there." Dan rolled a shoulder. "Why this sudden flip? You were ready to blast me two seconds ago." He squinted suspiciously. "Now you're talking like we're old friends."

Danny snorted. "Hardly. But Clockwork doesn't do things without reasons. He might not give good explanations for what he does, but I have to trust whatever it is." He ground his teeth. "Even if I don't understand it. But," his eyes flashed bright green, "if you even think about going around destroying things or killing people, I'm going to stuff you back in that Thermos. And I'll make sure you _never_ get out again."

Dan grinned then laughed, a mad laugh of a man who sounded like he lost his mind. "Fourteen years is a long time." When he looked back to Danny, all humor was gone from his face. "At first, all I could think about was getting out and taking revenge, making sure _my_ time came to exist. I put all my energy into breaking out of that stupid Thermos. But as time passed, I grew exhausted. There's only so long you can last in the silence before your mind starts thinking on things, even the things you don't want to remember. Maybe," he made a face like it was difficult to get the words out, "I resolved some of my issues."

"Resolved your issues?" Danny didn't know how much to believe any of the words Dan said. "If that means you don't care about destroying this world like you did in your time, then why did you attack me?"

The grin cracked widely across his face. "Because it's fun. And I was curious to see how strong you grew since we last fought. If something's coming that we have to fight together, I don't want to be carrying your weak ass."

Danny rolled his eyes. "And did I pass your little test?"

"Eh," Dan shrugged, wiggling his hand in a so-so manner, "we can work on it."

Danny glared as Dan grinned. "Whatever." He turned around, walking back out the kitchen door. "I'm going to bed. Don't blow anything up while I'm sleeping."

Dan snorted. "Like you would notice anything exploding after living in this house."

Danny hated how almost accurate that was. His parents, mostly his father, did cause a lot of explosions while working in their laboratory. He stopped before he left the kitchen completely, whirling around to point a finger at Dan.

"And clean up that ice cream!"

Dan frowned, laying a flat stare at Danny. "That mess is your fault."

"I could always just suck you back into the Thermos." Danny smiled sickly sweet, which earned him a furious glare. "Just clean it up." He gave a wave as he turned back down the hall.

Sighing, Danny walked up the stairs to his room. What was his life right now? Getting drinks with Dash? Dan living under the same roof? Danny rubbed at his eyes, feeling like he stepped through to some upside down twilight zone dimension. There was a voice in the back of his head, shrieking and panicking about all of it, but it was quickly being muffled by his utter exhaustion. Thanks to Dan's sudden appearance, he didn't even get any extra work done. Thinking about work, he remembered he hung up on Valerie earlier.

Danny groaned into his hands. Maybe she wouldn't be too mad at him if he waited to tell her about everything until tomorrow. All he could picture was her angry face as he entered the bathroom. His phone buzzed while he was brushing his teeth. He pulled out his phone, and checking on the message, he smiled around the toothbrush. Tucker sent him a photo with the caption: My girls, and the loves of my life. In the photo, Tucker's wife Zoe held a newborn baby. She looked tired, but she smiled widely, joy radiating from her.

[ _Congrats! Hope I get to meet her soon!_ ]

Danny couldn't stop smiling as he set his phone aside and returned to brushing his teeth. For months, Tucker was nothing but a bundle of nervous excitement and utter panic about having a baby. Danny lost count of the number of messages he got from Tucker, worrying about being a bad father. Each time those texts came in, he did his best to calm Tucker's worries and tell him he would make a great father. Now that the baby was born, he wanted to jump on a plane and fly out to visit Tucker and meet the newborn.

He spit into the sink then rinsed out his mouth. Even if he wanted to go, he couldn't. He couldn't leave Dan alone. Who knew what Dan would do without someone to watch him? Valerie could probably keep him under control, but Danny didn't want to push his responsibility onto her. Dan was his future so he was his problem.

With that thought, Danny finished up in the bathroom then headed to his bedroom. After changing into some pajama bottoms, he crawled into bed. He was tired, but sleep didn't come easily to him. His thoughts circled around, revisiting everything that happened over the course of the day. But mostly, he couldn't stop thinking about Dan being freed from the Thermos. What was Clockwork thinking? How could Dan possibly be any help? Did Clockwork forget all about how Dan destroyed the world in his timeline? Danny listened carefully as he laid, staring up at the ceiling in his dark room. It didn't sound like anything was being blown up. Yet, at least.

Sometime during the night, his brain finally got too tired to think of anything, and he drifted off to sleep.

Danny jerked awake the next morning, the memory of the dream lingering for a few moments before slipping out of his grasp. All he could recall was the sense of dread and a world on fire. He glanced around his room. Everything seemed exactly as it was when he fell asleep. With a sigh, he rubbed at his tired eyes. Just a dream. And not the first time he dreamed of the world being destroyed like in Dan's timeline.

Dan.

Danny snapped his head up with a jolt. Throwing off his covers, he scrambled out of bed and out of his room. He rushed down the stairs then nearly fell over himself when he tried to skid to a stop. Dan lifted his head from where he lounged on the couch. The television was playing some rom-com on the Hallmark channel.

"Is," Danny frowned as he pointed at Dan, "my laptop?"

"Obviously." Dan snorted. "Whose else would it be?"

Some of the tension deflated from him as Danny walked farther into the front room. "And why do you have my laptop? And what are you watching?" He lifted an eyebrow as the man and woman on screen embraced and shared a kiss. Not exactly the kind of movie he expected to catch his evil future self watching.

"I've been locked up for fourteen years." Dan rolled his eyes as he stared at the laptop screen. "I have a lot to catch up on. And those two," he pointed at the television without even looking at it, "totally don't belong together. I don't know what the writers were thinking with that."

Danny pinched the bridge of his nose, his head aching. "My evil future is watching rom-coms and complaining about the main ship. What reality did I wake up in?" He took a deep breath then released it slowly. "Get ready."

Dan lifted his head, his brow creasing. "Get ready? Ready for what?"

"I have to go to work. You're coming with me."

"Yeah, no, I'll pass." Dan went back to staring at the laptop.

"Then I hope you enjoy spending the next several hours back in the Thermos." Danny shrugged.

"Ugh!" Dan threw back his head as he groaned loudly. "Fine. I'll go with you."

Danny headed back upstairs to his room. This was, maybe, a bad idea, but he didn't like the idea of leaving Dan home alone. Even if he was only going to watch dumb movies and surf the internet. Danny shook his head. That was not the activity he expected from Dan. Where was all the death and explosions? This Dan was strange and foreign to him. Maybe that wasn't a bad thing though. At least life would be easier for him if Dan didn't go on a rampage around Amity Park.

After he got dressed for work, Danny returned downstairs. He paused for a second time in the doorway to the front room. Dan stood in front of the couch, looking like a normal living person. He grinned when he noticed Danny.

"What do you think?"

Danny cocked an eyebrow at him. "Were you going for the greaser look?"

Dan glowered. He wore a leather jacket over his simple black tee and tight dark blue jeans. All he needed was to do his hair up in a pompadour, which Danny didn't think he wanted to see. "Were you expecting me to wear some silly suit?"

Danny shook his head. "No, I should have known you'd pick something like this." He walked into the kitchen, his eyes immediately drawn to the wall. Surprisingly, Dan had cleaned up the ice cream mess from last night. He grabbed a quick breakfast of a power bar then gathered up his work things. When he was ready to leave, he returned to the front room, looked at Dan, then shook his head. "I really hope Val doesn't kill me for this."

"Val," Dan repeated with a wince. "She doesn't know about me, right?"

"She's the one you should really be scared of." Danny smirked as he passed Dan on his way to the front door, but he was already dreading the conversation he needed to have with her when they got to Axiom Labs.

"Flying would be faster," Dan pointed out after they left the house.

Danny rolled his eyes as he opened the car door. "Sometimes, I like to keep up appearances of being normal. You aren't really going to help with that."

He drove them to Axiom Labs, occasionally having to slap Dan's hand away from the radio. Dan grumbled about it the whole time, saying the music he listened to was boring. Danny tightened his grip on the steering wheel with every word out of Dan's mouth. Was this his new tactic? Kill Danny by being obnoxious and annoying then destroy the world? He was ready to bolt out of the car when they finally arrived at Axiom Labs.

"I can't believe you're working for Vlad now." Dan laughed as they walked to the front entrance. "I mean, really? Working for your arch nemesis? Doesn't that go against some kind of superhero code?"

Danny sighed, regretting everything. "You've been gone for fourteen years. A lot has changed."

Dan snorted. "Clearly."

"Just don't talk to anyone." Danny led the way into the building.

Oz lifted his gaze when they entered. He glanced past Danny, frowning when he spotted Dan, then shot a glare at Danny. "Do you have-"

"Just tell Ms. Gray to come to my office when she has a free moment," Danny said sharply as he walked past the front desk.

"Wait. You can't just-" Oz jumped up from his seat.

"I'm sure," Dan said, making Danny halt mid step, "you know what Mr. Gray is like when she's angry." When he turned around, Danny caught a wicked smirk on Dan's face while all the color seemed to drain right out of Oz's. "You wouldn't want to make her angry by interrupting some _very_ important work, now would you?"

Oz swallowed as he slowly sat back down.

"I didn't think so." Dan moved away from the desk then turned to continue following Danny to the elevator.

"Thanks," Danny muttered dryly after the doors closed and he hit the button for his office's floor. "Now he's going to hate me even more."

Dan shrugged and leaned against the back wall of the elevator. "So what? He's not important. Why do you care about his opinion?"

"Sorry I'm not as indifferent to other people's opinions as you are." Danny shot him a glare. "We can't all be emotionless jerks."

Dan snorted but said nothing, watching the numbers over the elevator doors.

When the doors opened, they walked through the hall to Danny's office. For the next hour or so, Danny tried to busy himself with catching up on his work, but Dan kept distracting him. Every time Danny started on something, Dan would knock something over or hover by his shoulder.

"Will you-" Danny snapped as the door to his office opened. They both glanced over, and Valerie met their gazes.

"Is that," Valerie frowned, pointing at Dan, "him?"

Danny shoved Dan off him with a shoulder. "In all his obnoxious glory."

Valerie closed the door, eyeing Dan with caution. "At least we don't have to hunt him down." She folded her arms, her expression clearly not pleased. "So why isn't he in the Thermos?"

Danny turned to Dan, his teeth grinding. "Apparently Clockwork sent him."

"Clockwork's that ghost that knows everything?"

Dan nodded. "A real dick."

"Which means," Danny ignored him, "Dan must serve some purpose in whatever is coming."

"I'm guessing Clockwork didn't say what exactly is coming." Valerie's frown deepened.

Danny slapped a hand over Dan's mouth before he could make another comment. "Clockwork doesn't like to say anything that could ruin the timeline. He'll give nudges and be all cryptic, but he's never going to come out and say what exactly it is. We just have to trust that Clockwork has a plan in motion, and Dan somehow fits into that."

"So we're just supposed to let him wander around free?" Valerie narrowed her eyes at Dan, like she was sizing him up for a fight. "I don't like the idea of that."

"You and me both." Danny sighed, dropping his hand.

"I already told you I spent a lot of that time in the Thermos thinking." Dan huffed. "I've gotten over a lot of that anger, and I'm not the same ghost you remember."

"You'll have to prove that to us. Just cleaning up the ice cream mess isn't enough."

Dan threw his hands up. "What do I have to do then?"

Valerie glanced at Danny then turned her gaze back to Dan. "We can't give you an exact answer on that. It's not like there's some guidebook outlining how to prove you're not that same angry, murderous asshole you were in your own timeline."

"I've spent enough time in that damn Thermos. I'm not doing anything to get put back in."

"If you," Valerie pointed a finger right in his face as she narrowed her eyes at him, "do anything to destroy Amity Park, I'll make that Thermos seem like heaven."

The threat wasn't even for him, but Danny still swallowed hard. "You really don't want to find out what she'll do to you," he whispered to Dan.

"Act like this goody two shoes dipstick." Dan pointed a thumb at Danny with an air of annoyance in his flat stare. "Got it."

"I wouldn't say I'm a goody two shoes," Danny grumbled. Then he looked to Valerie, almost pleading her with his eyes. "You don't want to babysit him for a while, do you?"

"No way." With that short, curt response, Valerie left the pair alone in Danny's office.

"I hate you," Danny muttered with his gaze trained on the closed door.

"The feeling's mutual."


	4. Chapter 4

Dash rubbed at his eyes. How long had he been staring at the screen? It was making his eyes ache. Fourteen years worth of news articles was a lot to search through, and he was already regretting trying to get through all of it in one day. In the hours he already spent in front of the computer, he hadn't found any article featuring a ghost that looked like the one Phantom battled against last night. He dropped his gaze to the paper sitting next to the computer. When he got home from the bar, he made a quick sketch of the ghost.

And maybe a few doodles of Phantom.

Glancing over the doodles, the corner of his mouth tugged up in a fond smile. When he came back to Amity Park, his first time seeing Phantom again was a bit of a surprise. He had expected Phantom to look much like he did back during high school, but Phantom was taller and buffer, though still lean. His hair was different too. No longer a messy mop on his head, he had shaved the sides. Even his costume was changed, though it still kept to the black and white theme. His black suit felt more like regular clothes rather than that skin tight jumpsuit, but it still fit him well. Boots, gloves, belt; all still white. But he added a short white jacket with the sleeves bunched up above the elbow. A surprising change, but Dash liked the new look.

"Are you finding everything all right?"

Dash jerked out of his thought, lifting his gaze to the woman, smiling politely at him from the other side of the computer. "Oh, um, yeah." He shook his head as he tried to recollect his thoughts. "Actually, I was wondering about something. Is this everything you have on Phantom?"

She walked around the desk to stand behind his seat. Leaning over his shoulder, she pushed a lock of red hair behind her ear as she stared intently at the screen. "Hm, yes, that seems to be all the articles complied over the years." She stood up straight again. "Since he's become such a hometown hero, we've collected every news story and photograph possible to build a complete database on him." She smiled, a light blush coloring her cheeks. "I think Mr. McCord, he's the head of the library, is trying to get funding for some kind of museum displaying everything about Phantom. He thinks tourists would really like it."

Dash nodded, recalling something about that being mentioned recently. He was sure there were a few people who would oppose such an idea. Or at least, one stubborn organization that still wanted to capture Phantom. "It's just," he frowned, "I noticed a few years where there's no coverage at all about him."

"Huh." Her brow wrinkled. "That's odd. I never realized the gap." Her mouth pursed. "Though now that I think about it, Mr. McCord did talk about it a couple of times. I guess no one really knows what happened, but Phantom just stopped appearing for a while. But when a big ghost came threatening the town, he showed up again and knocked that ghost on its butt. Or, that's how Mr. McCord tells it. Uh, with a different choice of words though."

That was curious. Dash stared at the screen. What was it that he had said yesterday? Protecting people was his obsession? It didn't seem like that was a comment he meant to slip out, but Dash still found it puzzling. If it was his obsession, why would Phantom disappear? Did that mean during those years, he felt like no one needed him to protect them?

Dash turned back to the librarian. "You wouldn't happen to recall a ghost that looked like this?" He held up his sketch of the ghost for her to see.

"Oh, um, well," she scrunched up her face as she looked over the sketch, "it's a very interesting looking ghost. But," she shook her head, "if it doesn't show up anywhere in the database, then I don't think we have anything on it."

"Oh." Dash lowered the paper back to the desk, disappointed. "Thanks for the help."

"Sure." She smiled brightly. "If there's anything else, just feel free to ask."

Dash shook his head. "I think I'm done with my research for today." He stuck the paper in a folder then shoved that into his bag. "But if I need anything else, I'll be back."

Throwing his bag over his shoulder, he bid the librarian a good day then headed for the front entrance of the library. The bright midday sunlight nearly seared his eyeballs when he stepped outside. He sighed heavily as he stuffed his hands into his pants pockets and walked down the street. Looking through all those news articles only brought up more questions than answers. He still didn't have any clues about that ghost, and now he had another mystery on his hands. His mouth pursed, and his brow furrowed as he thought deeply about that new little tidbit he discovered.

He bumped into another person, the front of him suddenly very wet and very hot. He gasped.

"Oh gosh! I'm so sorry!" The flustered woman hid her face behind the to-go tray, now empty of the cups of coffee which lay scattered on the ground at their feet.

Dash winced. Coffee. That explained why it burned. "Ah, it's okay. I, uh, should have been paying attention."

She lowered the tray enough to peek over it and stare at him with worried eyes so dark they were almost black. Her dark hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. "I'm really sorry. They sent me out to pick up some drinks, but then I got lost. I don't know where I am. I panicked. I was trying to look up how to get back on my phone, so I didn't see you." She flinched, like she expected him to yell at her.

Dash frowned. She was practically to the point of tears. "It's okay. Really. Don't worry about it. Accidents happen." Though as he said it, he recalled high school. If Fenton had done something similar, and Dash was pretty sure he had, Dash would have responded quite differently than he did today. "Where were you trying to go?"

"Oh, um." She tucked the tray under her arm as she checked her phone. "It's, um, that big building on Elm Street."

Dash's brow furrowed. "That place that's been empty for, like, ten years?"

She lifted her gaze, wide eyes blinking at him. "Yes! You know it?"

"Uh, yeah." Dash rubbed the back of his neck. A ghost had taken up haunting the place to the point of driving out the original owners. Even after Phantom dealt with the ghost, no one had seemed interested in setting up a new business there. It seemed silly, given just how many ghost attacks happened in Amity Park, but he guess maybe it was some kind of superstition. Or they feared the ghost would return to haunt the building again. "Do you want me to help you find it?"

"Oh, no!" She shook her head. "I couldn't ask that." Her gaze dipped, and a blush darkened her soft bronze cheeks. "I've already caused you enough trouble. And I should be the one offering to help with the mess I made."

Dash chuckled. "Ah, well, you don't have to do anything. It was just an accident." He tugged at his wet shirt. "Other than the coffee burning me, it's not really a big deal. I was on my way home anyway."

She worried her lower lip. "If you say so."

Dash sighed inwardly. "My name's Dash." He stuck his hand out toward her. "Are you new here?"

"Oh," she adjusted her glasses, "yes!" She fumbled with her phone and the tray before taking his hand to shake it. "I'm Kylie. I just moved here a few days ago."

Dash nodded. "Amity Park seems like a strange place to just move to. Why would you decide to come here?"

"My boss." Kylie shrugged. "It doesn't seem too bad here."

She couldn't possibly be oblivious to all of the ghost activity in Amity Park, or their local ghostly hero. But Dash decided not to scare her with the dangers of living here. "I hope you enjoy it here then. And I hope your boss isn't too hard on you."

At that, Kylie paled. "Right. I was supposed to be back in fifteen minutes. And now I don't even have the drinks!"

"Hey," Dash placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to calm her, "it's going to be okay. Do you want me to go with you? To explain what happened?"

Kylie shook her head. "No, no. I should face the consequence myself. But thank you. For offering. Ah! I really should be going!" She crouched down, scooping up the emptied coffee cups. "Bye! See you! Maybe!" She waved with a hand holding three of the cups as she hurried down the street.

Dash blinked at her fast escape. He was pretty sure only Phantom could beat her on a fast get away from him. With a sigh, he raked a hand through his hair. What a day. He dropped his gaze, looking over his coffee soaked front. Back to his apartment it was.

About a block and a half away from his apartment, he felt his phone vibrating in his back pocket. Dash pulled it out, giving the call a glance. A smile sneaked onto his face as he answered it.

"Kwan!" Maybe he was a bit loud, but he was stupidly excited to hear from Kwan so soon after their night of drinking. He actually hadn't expected a call, not for a while anyway. Maybe Kwan was trying to act like everything was fine last night, but he should have known Dash and Valerie could pick up on even the subtlest hint of something being wrong. With that in mind, Dash thought Kwan would go radio silent for about week, at least.

"You sound like you're in a good mood." Kwan's voice sounded like he was smiling.

Dash hated how closely he was paying attention to pick up on any little nuance to further cement their suspicions. He snorted. "Sure. If you calling getting coffee spilled on me good."

Kwan hissed over the phone. "Please say it at least wasn't hot coffee."

"Not piping hot, but hot enough to burn." Dash glanced at the stain on his shirt. It was still warm but thankfully cooling off some as he walked.

"Well, sorry about your misfortune."

Dash squinted ahead of him. "I know you want to laugh."

"Nope." Kwan popped the "p" sound a little too loudly. "That was totally not a funny thing to have happen to you."

Dash rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I know you're laughing on the inside."

"Maybe just a little." Kwan chuckled. "And here I was thinking maybe something good happened after Valerie and I left last night."

Dash furrowed his brow. "What are you trying to imply?"

"Nothing!" A smirk in Kwan's voice earned a scowl from Dash. "Anyway, I was just calling to say I have Saturday free, if we wanted to hang out. Or something."

"Sure. I shouldn't have anything on Saturday. Just let me know the time and where to meet up."

"Okay. I'll check in with Valerie too before making plans."

Dash opened the door to his apartment building. "Hey, so, this might be a little out there," he frowned as he hit the button for the elevator, "but I was doing a little research into Phantom today."

"You know this is the first time I've been back since high school. I'm sure there's a lot about Phantom that happened since then that I couldn't even begin to tell you about."

Dash sighed as the doors opened and he stepped onto the elevator. "Yeah, I guess you have a point."

"But you know who could probably help you?"

After hitting the button for his floor, Dash scratched the back of his head. He racked his mind but came up without a clue. "Uh, who?"

Kwan exhaled dramatically. "Danny."

Dash groaned, throwing his head back to bump against the wall of the elevator. "Why did you have to go and say that?"

"Because you know I'm right. Come on, Dash. His parents did all that research and stuff on ghosts. They even invented stuff to fight against ghostly threats. Whether you like it or not, he's probably going to be the one person who knows the most about Phantom."

Dash closed his eyes. He could be civil to Fenton. Last night ended up being not that bad. But he wasn't sure about going out of his way to ask Fenton for help. "You sound a little too cheerful suggesting that, you know."

Kwan snorted, and Dash could imagine the flat stare on his face in that moment. "I caught you glancing his way."

"Uh, yeah," Dash spat out, maybe a little more sarcastically than he meant to, "because when someone talks, you generally look at them. It's called being a good listener."

"Whatever you say."

Dash huffed when he heard the elevator ding. "It's not that amusing." He stepped off the elevator and headed down the hall to his apartment. "I don't know what you're thinking, but you're probably wrong."

"Uh huh. Well, I should probably be going. Snuck out on my break to make this call, and I should probably get back to work."

"I'll see you this Saturday."

"Right! See you then!"

Dash hung up the call then sighed as he stared at the phone. Some might like to think of him as a dumb jock, but he wasn't dumb enough not to pick up on what Kwan was hinting at. Unlocking his apartment, he pushed open the door. So he snuck peeks at Fenton last night. Big deal. Dash entered his apartment and kicked the door closed behind him. So he took notice of Fenton's smile and the way he laughed. It was only because it was completely new for him. He never experienced hanging out with Fenton until now. Even during that one time when Fenton was in the A List, they didn't do the hanging out as friends thing. And he purposely ignored Fenton that one time he came to one of his parties.

"Damn it, Kwan," Dash muttered, shaking his head, and hopefully the thoughts right out of his head. He did not need to be thinking about Fenton for any reason. After setting his phone on the stand by the door, he headed for his bedroom. Before he did anything else, he needed to get out of his coffee soaked clothes.

After a change of clothes, Dash busied himself with some of his other projects. He had a few stories outlined and ready to be written up for publication. He just had to sit down and do the writing. That was, sometimes, the hardest part. He sat on his couch, typing away at his laptop, mostly, until the sun set and the sky darkened. He hit the save button for the hundredth time, to be safe. Then he leaned back, pressing the palms of his hands against his eyes and groaned.

"Okay! Fine!" he shouted to no one. As much as he tried to keep his focus on his work, his mind would drift back to Phantom and the mystery of his disappearance.

Dash closed his laptop as he stood. He wouldn't get any answers sitting around, and he had no way of actually contacting Phantom. Not that Phantom seemed willing to answer any of his questions in the first place. His only other option seemed to be to pay Fenton a visit, as Kwan suggested. He grabbed his jacket and his phone as he left his apartment.

When he stepped out onto the street, Dash frowned. It seemed rude to just show up at Fenton's house. He walked down the street, debating how exactly to go about this whole thing. He doubted Fenton would respond well to him coming over just to ask questions about Phantom. There had to be some way for him to win over Fenton's favor. When he passed a grocery store, Dash paused. Maybe some drinks and food would do the trick. He stopped inside to quickly pick up a few things.

Forty-five minutes later, Dash walked up to the front door of Fenton Works. He stared up at the tacky sign still jutting out from the side of the house. He was nearly ninety percent certain Fenton's parents converted it from an old fire fighter house. The observatory still sat on top of the house, though it looked a little less precarious. Then he dragged his gaze back down to the door right in front of him. He was here now, so he might as well go through with it, even if a voice in his head was telling him to run away now before it was too late. Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell.

Part of him hoped no one would answer the door, forcing him to turn around and go back to his apartment. Before he could make the decision to do that, the door opened to reveal Fenton's grumpy face. He stared for a long minute before he blinked, standing up straighter.

"Dash!" His blue eyes darted about then landed back on Dash. "Um, w-what are you doing here?"

Dash held up the plastic bag from the grocery store. "I brought some snacks." Even as he said it, it sounded lame, and he cringed inwardly.

Fenton's brow knitted slightly as his gaze dropped to the bag. "Okay. Still really confused, but, uh, come in. I guess." He stepped aside, holding the door open for him.

Dash entered the house and took a glance around as Fenton closed the door. It felt a bit like he stepped back in time and they were still in high school. The house didn't seem to change much, from what he could tell, except that couch in the front room was definitely new.

"So what did you bring?"

"Huh?" Dash snapped his head back to Fenton. "Oh. Uh, just some beer." He pulled out the six pack to show Fenton. "And you know, chips and dip."

Fenton lifted an eyebrow. "Guess you weren't kidding about it just being snacks. Unless that's what you think of as dinner."

Dash frowned, lowering his arm holding the beer. "Were you expecting me to come prepared to make a five course meal?"

Fenton chuckled, shaking his head. "Considering I wasn't expecting you to come over at all, I would say beer and chips are just fine." He walked down the hall toward the kitchen.

Dash hesitated then followed after him. For a brief moment, he thought he might have angered Fenton, but the sudden chuckled made him relax. Maybe this wouldn't go as badly as he envisioned in his head. Fenton, at least, didn't seem annoyed with him showing up out of the blue. When he entered the kitchen, Dash walked over to the table and set the plastic bag and the beer on it. He found Fenton standing in front of the stove, stirring something in a pot.

"What's that?" Dash walked over, curious about the delicious smell wafting through the kitchen.

"I was in the middle of making some sauce for spaghetti." Fenton grabbed a spoon out of the drawer next to the stove. "Give it a try."

Dash took the spoon presented to him. He stared into the pot of simmering tomato sauce. As good as it smelled, he had no idea what kind of a cook Fenton was. For all he knew, the sauce could be lethal. _Now I'm just being over dramatic!_ Dash dipped the spoon into the pot. When he tasted it, he was surprised by how good it was. He turned to Fenton with wide eyes.

"That's really good! Who taught you to cook like that?"

Danny laughed as he turned off the burner. "Definitely not from my parents." His mouth curved into a crooked smirk, like there was some joke there that Dash missed. "Mostly, Jazz taught me growing up. She thought it would be a good skill to have once I left home for college and all that. I guess it's come in handy." He nodded his head toward the cupboard near Dash. "Grab some plates."


	5. Chapter 5

"Is that really what you do all day?" Dan asked, sitting at the kitchen table with his chin resting in his hands. "It was so boring!"

Danny snapped his head around, just long enough to shoot Dan a withering glare. "Oh, there's one giant reason today sucked." He turned back to the stove where he was working on fixing dinner.

"It can't be Valerie." Dan tapped his chin thoughtfully. "She's delightful! Was it because of that punk at the front desk? I could do something about that, you know."

Danny leaned his head back with a loud, drawn out groan. Dan didn't even make an attempt to hide his smirk. If he was going to play the "good guy," he was at least going to have some fun annoying Danny. After being stuck in Danny's little office at Axiom Labs for a day, he regretted listening to Clockwork's orders. It was only mildly better than being stuck inside that stupid Thermos. He just hoped when this was all over, whatever they were going to face, he wouldn't have to go back into the Thermos.

"If I could trust you not to go off and destroy stuff, I wouldn't have to babysit you." Danny stirred the pot, sprinkling in a few more spices.

Dan scowled at the back of his head. "I don't need to be babysat." He got up from the table. "And I know we both want to get this whole thing over with as fast as possible. So why you're stuck at a boring job all day, I can zoom around the town and keep an eye out for anything that looks vaguely threatening. Though honestly," he folded his arms as he shrugged, "I think my presence would be a bit overkill."

Danny shook his head. "I wouldn't get so cocky. I mean," he sent a smirk over his shoulder, "I kicked your butt, and I was only fourteen."

Dan snorted, turning his head. "Only because you caught me by surprise. You wouldn't have won if you hadn't learned the Ghostly Wail from me early."

"Whatever you say." Danny continued grinning as he worked on dinner.

Dan ground his teeth, but before he could think of a scathing response, the doorbell rang. Danny glanced toward the hall doorway, his face scrunching up and his brow knitting. A smirk tugged at Dan's mouth. He was hoping for a good distraction, and it seemed like someone was listening. He doubted that someone was Clockwork, as annoying as he was.

"Well, that sounds like my cue to get out of your hair," Dan announced.

"What?" Danny snapped his head around so fast Dan was surprised he didn't hurt himself. "Dan, don't you-"

But Dan didn't wait for him to finish. He turned invisible, masking his presence at the same time.

"Get back here!" Danny whispered heatedly.

Dan bit his forked tongue to keep from laughing. Danny looked livid, and Dan was absolutely delighted by that fact. It was amusing, but he was free now and didn't want to spend his whole time tied down to Danny "the goody-two-shoes" Fenton. Was part of him ever really like that? He almost couldn't believe it. After all this time, he barely even thought of himself as ever being Danny or Vlad.

Danny huffed, muttering to himself as he stalked out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the front door. Dan flew straight up through the ceiling of the kitchen and exited Fenton Works through the roof. Hovering over the house, he stared out over the neighborhood, enjoying the early evening. His mouth stretched into a wide grin. Freedom, and Danny wouldn't be able to follow him! He worked on the whole masking his presence skill during his time stuck in the Thermos, but until he made his escape last night, he couldn't be certain it would actually work.

He spent fourteen years waiting for this moment. Now that it was here, Dan realized he never considered what to do once he was free to do whatever he pleased. Destruction and mayhem were no longer his goal. He made peace, mostly, with what happened in his timeline. An anger still burned right in the middle of his chest, but he found he could now push it away and ignore it.

For the most part.

But where did that leave him now? What was he to do with no goal in mind? He no longer had an obsession, and he honestly didn't know what happened a ghost without an obsession. It was possible, he supposed, to switch obsessions. Plenty of the ghosts in his timeline had made it their goal to get revenge on him, even if that was impossible. He just needed to focus his mind on a goal. Currently, that goal was taking out whatever threat was about to turn up in Amity Park. It was good enough for now, but it wouldn't last after the threat was eliminated.

Shaking those thoughts out of his head, Dan flew to the downtown area of Amity Park. He wanted to spend the night having some fun! Danny, without a doubt, was going to threaten to Thermos him again once he got back. Dan rolled his eyes as he touched down in a dark alley, well out of sight from anyone. He wasn't going to worry about Danny tonight. Turning visible again, he shifted to his human disguise before he stepped out of the alley. No one walking the street gave him a second look. Dan grinned as he blended into the human crowd.

After a few minutes of walking around, Dan frowned. It was a strange experience for him. No one was running away and screaming at the mere sight of him. He felt an itch, a desire to terrorize the people around him. His nails bit into his palms as he squeezed his hands into tight fists. The slight pain only mildly distracted him from that urge. He couldn't give into those violent tendencies if he wanted to remain free.

 _Ugh, this is going to be impossible!_ Dan held back a frustrated growl.

Something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned his head, catching sight of someone exiting a restaurant. It looked like a small place, probably family owned, but the restaurant wasn't what caught Dan's attention. His eyes narrowed in on the man's ass. His mouth curved upward. He was looking for a distraction, after all.

Walking over to the restaurant, Dan planned a couple of ways this could go. If he didn't approach this right, it could go very wrong. The man turned around, letting the door swing shut, before Dan could decide on a plan of action. His brain went blank when he was faced with the man.

"Um," he frowned with a slight furrowing of his brow, "can I help you?"

"Lost!" Dan blurted out when he realized how long the silence stretched between them. Even the man looked a little concerned by it. He couldn't help being a little thrown running into Kwan, of all people.

"Lost?" Kwan lifted his eyebrow as he nodded slowly. "And where are you trying to go?"

"Um," Dan mumbled, his brain still stalling for decent answers. He shook his head, letting a smirk slip onto his face. "I was hoping to have a bit of fun. Care to help me out?"

Kwan gave him a flat stare. "Is that flirting? Is that what you're doing? I can't really tell if you're serious."

The smirk immediately fell. "No good?" Dan raked a hand through his hair, a strange feeling when it wasn't on fire like it usually was. "I guess it's been a while since I've done the whole flirting thing." Ever since he came into being as Dan, trying to date someone wasn't exactly a high priority for him. He mostly thought about destruction, chaos, violence, and the like. Flirting with someone was completely new territory for him.

The corner of Kwan's mouth twitched, but there was a sparkle in his eyes. "I wouldn't have guessed." His gaze flicked back to the restaurant. "First off, I'm not agreeing to do anything with someone who can't even introduce themselves."

"Right." Dan had memories of Kwan, thanks to Danny, but of course, he was a complete stranger to Kwan. "It's Dan." He held out his hand.

"Kwan." He shook Dan's hand. "Well, Dan," he shoved his hands into his pockets, "I'm afraid I already had plans for tonight. I'd invite you along, but you would probably just be bored."

Dan snorted. He let his gaze roam down then back up Kwan's body. He doubted he would ever be bored in his presence. "Maybe I will be, but you can't know that for certain." He shrugged. "But at least I'll get to learn something about you."

Kwan's mouth pursed slightly, uncertainty furrowing his brow. "Why would you be interested in knowing anything about me?"

Dan considered the question with a frown. Kwan's body language came off somewhat guarded, pulling his hands from his pockets to fold his arms. Had he come off threatening in some way? He was actually _trying_ not to be his usual menacing self. "I think you're cute," he answered bluntly, "so I want to know you better."

"Oh," Kwan said softly, his mouth forming a small "o" as his bronze cheeks darkened. "Well, I guess you can tagalong. If you really want."

Dan grinned triumphantly. "Lead the way then!"

He bowed, one arm wrapped around his waist while the other arm extended outward. He lifted his head when he heard a short laugh. Kwan held a hand over his mouth, clearly struggling not to laugh outright. Dan couldn't identify that feeling in his chest. It was strange, maybe a little familiar, and he wondered if he could get Kwan to laugh without holding back.

"Okay. Okay." Kwan grabbed his arm and pulled him to stand up straight again. "Follow me." Adjusting the strap of his duffle bag on his shoulder, he turned to walk down the street.

Dan easily fell into step next to him. He glanced around, but no one gave them funny looks, or even really paid them any attention. It was a little unsettling. If this was his timeline, the people around them wouldn't know what to make of him walking around with someone. Valerie was pretty much the only human who dared to stand against him, so Dan couldn't imagine people screaming at him and trying to forcefully take Kwan away from him. They would more likely try to subtly gain Kwan's attention and encourage him to get away from the scary, murderous ghost.

"So," Kwan said, snapping Dan's attention back to the current timeline, "are you from out of town?" He stared at Dan with one eyebrow inching up toward his hairline.

"Ah," Dan looked away, rubbing his neck, "I guess you could say that."

"Where are you from?"

 _Crap!_ Dan winced. What was he supposed to say to that? "Wisconsin!" He almost smacked his forehead for that answer. But if he wanted to be technical, he did come into being in Wisconsin.

Kwan's mouth curled upward. "A cheese head, huh?"

"Oh yeah!" Dan laughed, maybe a bit too loudly. A few people looked his way as they walked by. "I'm real big into that whole green and gold." He thought about Vlad's castle and almost gagged when he remembered how tacky it looked with all the Packers' decor. Where was that old geezer anyway? He would have to ask Danny what happened to him later. Then he turned back to Kwan. "You ever play football?"

Kwan nodded, a fond look passing through his eyes. "In high school."

"Didn't want to keep going in college?"

Kwan shook his head. "I didn't have time with all the courses I was taking."

"Ah, yeah. Education." Dan nodded. "That's a thing that's important."

Kwan laughed. "Yeah." He stopped walking. "Well, this is it."

Dan lifted his gaze. The little hole in the wall business wasn't exactly what he expected when Kwan said he had plans for the night. It was just a dingy door set into a brick wall with a sign hanging over it reading "Li's Boxing Gym." He raised an eyebrow as his gaze drifted back to Kwan.

"What?" Kwan smiled as he opened the door. "Did you expect some kind of fancy restaurant or something?"

"I honestly can't say what I expected." Dan followed him into the building, still stunned. "Though I guess the football thing would have made more sense than boxing."

Kwan chuckled, waving to an old, gray haired man overseeing the two or three people still hanging around the gym this late at night. Dan guessed that man was probably Li, the owner. He followed Kwan into the back where there was a changing room. Kwan dropped his duffle bag onto the long thin bench that reminded Dan too much of being in the locker room at Casper High.

"Uh, so," Kwan tugged at his ear as he looked away, "I don't know if you really care to join-"

"Loved to." Dan grinned, his mouth stretching wider when Kwan's eyes snapped back to him.

"Er, okay. If you want to change, there are some extra clothes over there." He pointed toward a wall with several cubby holes with folded clothes and towels. "Don't worry. They're all washed daily, so they're clean." Next to the cubby holes was a basket for tossing used towels and borrowed clothes.

"Right." Dan looked down at what he wore, jeans and a leather jacket. "I guess this wouldn't be the best for boxing in."

"You can if you really want, but it's probably less comfortable." Kwan shrugged then bent over to unzip his duffle bag.

Dan walked over to the cubby holes and searched through them until he found something that would fit him. Once they were both changed, their stuff locked up in one of the lockers, they left the changing room. The other members of the gym had finished up with their training. They greeted Kwan with grins and pats on the shoulder as they passed him on their way to the locker room.

"Hm, quite the popular guy."

Kwan shook his head. "We just know each other from coming here since we were kids."

"You don't normally bring a friend along."

Dan jolted. He hadn't even noticed when old man Li sneaked up behind them.

Kwan bit his lip, holding back a snicker at his reaction. "I warned him this would be pretty boring for him."

"If there's one thing I don't find boring, it's fighting." Dan grinned as he mimed a few quick jabs. "This is going to be fun."

Li laughed loud and hard, and Dan frowned at him. "Oh, I see you have your work cut out for you with this one."

"What?" Dan snapped his gaze to Kwan. "What's he talking about?"

"Your stance," Kwan winced, "isn't quite the best." He laughed at puzzled furrowing of Dan's brow. "Come on. I'll show you." He grabbed hold of Dan's hand and tugged him toward one of the punching bags hanging to one side of the ring in the center of the gym. His hand felt warm, and when they reached the punching bag and Kwan let go, Dan frowned in disappointment. "Okay. I'm going to adjust your stance a little."

"Uh, yeah, okay." Dan shrugged, standing in front of the punching bag. He jerked when he felt hands on his hips, his instinct telling him to spin around and slug whomever dared to touch him. But Kwan chuckled behind him, and Dan forced himself to relax.

"Sorry. This'll just be a second." Kwan positioned Dan's waist, nudging his feet into proper placement with his own feet. "Okay." He walked around to the other side of the punching bag then held onto it. "Try out how that feels."

Dan didn't think his feet made much of a difference, after all the fights he got into over the years. But he put up his fists then punched the bag a few times, alternating right and left. After a couple minutes, he paused and glanced at Kwan, who stared at him expectantly. "I guess it feels a bit better."

"Still looks pretty sloppy," grumbled old man Li from behind him.

Dan ground his teeth. How did he keep doing that?

"You can't expect him to get it perfect right away. It's good for a start," Kwan argued. "Are you heading out now?"

Li nodded. "You'll lock up when you're done here?"

"Yeah." After Li said his goodbye, they were left alone in the gym.

Dan cocked an eyebrow at him. "You got the keys to this place? Are you related to that geezer?"

"He's my uncle." Kwan stared flatly, perhaps not liking the geezer comment. "And I've been coming here pretty much since I was seven."

Dan couldn't picture little seven year old Kwan boxing. He actually couldn't even recalling seeing Kwan at that age.

"So do you want to keep punching the bag?" Kwan shifted his weight, chewing on his lip. "Or do you want to try a bit of sparring?" He nodded toward the boxing ring.

Dan stared at the ring. He was itching to fight something, but with no evil ghost showing up to make trouble, he was out of luck if he wanted to remain free of the Thermos. Would fighting a normal human even be a wise idea? He could seriously hurt Kwan if he wasn't careful. "I'm ready if you are!" Dan grinned as he held up a fist. He would simply have to remember to hold back his strength.

Kwan helped him put on the gear. Then when they were ready, they climbed into the ring. Dan grinned, pounding the boxing gloves against each other, ready and eager to fight. Kwan stood opposite of him with his arms raised. Dan remembered Kwan being happy-go-lucky in high school. Here, Kwan's face set in a serious expressions, keen green eyes observing Dan's movements carefully. It was like someone else entirely stepped into the ring with him.

Dan threw a punch. Kwan bobbed out of the way. Dan punched again. Kwan blocked with one arm then countered, slamming his other fist into Dan's right side. Stumbling back a step, Dan was stunned by the blow. Kwan grinned. Dan raised his fists again. Maybe he would need to take this a little more seriously.


	6. Chapter 6

"So how did you like your first boxing lesson?" Kwan asked as he walked alongside Dan down the street. He adjusted the strap of his duffle bag as he sneaked a glance over to Dan.

"Just what I needed." Dan grinned, showing off his teeth. Kwan swore his canines looked a little longer, and sharper, than normal, but maybe he was just tired and seeing things. Dan held up his fists like he was preparing for another round in the ring. "I was hoping for a good fight tonight."

"Really?" Kwan frowned, not sure how to take that statement. "Do you often go out looking for fights?"

"I'm always itching for a good fight." A beat passed before the grin vanished, and Dan snapped his head around to Kwan. "That's not - That came out wrong. Sort of." He ground his teeth as he reached up to scratch a hand through his hair. "I guess I should start off with telling you I've had some anger issues in the past. My usual response to everything was punching it. I've been working on not being that way anymore, but," his mouth thinned as he turned his gaze away, "I guess I still have a lot more work to do."

Kwan bit the inside of his cheek. Hearing that Dan had anger issues wasn't exactly reassuring. But at least he was being up front about it. "We're all works in progress." He smiled as he continued walking. "I guess if you're being honest, I should too." He rubbed at the back of his neck, awkwardness settling over him like a heavy coat. "The whole reason I got into boxing was because as a kid I was," his cheeks flushed hotly, "a bit chubby."

Dan snorted a laugh, and Kwan shot a glare at him. "Wait!" Dan held up a hand, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I just can't imagine a chubby little Kwan. I'm going to need some photographic proof."

Kwan huffed. "Well, if it's so funny-"

"No, no! Keep going! I want to know." Dan tried to school his face, but the corner of his mouth kept twitching upward.

Kwan glared but eventually gave up with a sigh. "Fine," he said, sounding a bit more annoyed than he actually felt. "Because I was chubby, some of the other kids would pick on me, teasing me about my weight. It really made me hate myself." He frowned, thinking about how his parents didn't help much with his self esteem. "So I went to my uncle, since he owned a boxing gym. I thought maybe it would help me lose the weight. And it did. It also helped me realize I might have been suppressing some of my feelings. Boxing really helped to work out those feelings."

Dan nodded along, no longer looking as amused. "I can see what you mean." He looked down at his hands. "I feel a lot better after sparring with you."

Kwan grinned. "Then I'm happy I could help." He stopped walking and looked up at the apartment building then back to Dan. "Uh, well, this is my place."

Dan lifted his gaze, his mouth turning downward. "Ah, I guess that means this is goodnight?" When he turned back to Kwan, disappointment reflected in his eyes.

Kwan shifted his weight, chewing on his lower lip. A part of him was tempted to invite Dan up to his apartment and continue the night. But the majority of him said he should be cautious. After all, he only just met Dan and barely knew anything about him. Cautiousness won out, even though he had enjoyed spending some time with Dan.

"Work in the morning," Kwan explained with a shrug. "I don't want to stay up too late." It sounded like a lame excuse, and he cringed inwardly, hoping he didn't sound like some kind of loser.

"Well," Dan nodded as he stepped in closer, "I hope we can do this again."

Dan was only an inch or two taller, but Kwan somehow felt small with the way he leaned over him. Dan's mouth curved upward. His face was a little too close, and Kwan's heart jumped into his throat. He couldn't tear his gaze away from Dan's mouth. He half expected Dan to close the gap between them and kiss him.

"The boxing, that is," Dan added, and when he leaned back, Kwan felt like he could breathe again. "Unless of course, you want to do something other than boxing sometime."

Kwan nodded jerkily. "Right. Yeah. Of course. Boxing. Other things. Sure."

Dan chuckled lowly, maintaining his closeness for a while longer. It didn't help Kwan hold to his decision of saying goodnight. "Then," he took Kwan's hand and brought it up to kiss the back of it, "until our next meeting."

"That was really cheesy." But Kwan's cheeks burned with a dark blush.

Dan shrugged, not seeming bothered about being called cheesy. "I've been called worse." He released Kwan's hand, but there was something in his expression that bothered Kwan. Before Kwan could figure it out, Dan said, "I guess I should let you get to sleep."

"Right." Kwan bobbed his head. "Then I guess, goodnight."

Dan grinned. "Goodnight." He seemed hesitant, but after a moment, he turned and walked down the street.

Kwan watched him go for a few minutes. Then he sighed and turned to enter the apartment building. As he walked up the stairs to his floor, he worried he made the wrong choice. It was the smart decision, he knew that, but he found himself wanting to spend more time with Dan. Maybe that was silly.

_Whatever_ , Kwan forced himself to think as he unlocked the door to his apartment. _We'll see each other again. We just agreed on that_. He closed the door behind him then froze. "Oh." His mouth dropped open in a small "o." He bopped his forehead with his fist. "I didn't even get his number." How were they supposed to plan the next time they would see each other? Frowning, he walked over to his couch and pulled out his phone. Maybe Dan wasn't as in to him as he was letting on and not offering up his phone number was his subtle way of making that point clear. Kwan dropped his duffle bag onto the couch and sent a text to Dash.

[ _Hey. Got a question 4 u_.]

Kwan left his phone on top of the duffle bag then headed for the bathroom. He took a quick shower, relishing the warm water washing over him. Maybe for longer than was necessary. Climbing out of the shower, he grabbed a towel and began drying off. When he finished, he wrapped the towel around his waist. He lifted his head and paused, catching his reflection in the mirror.

"Ah!" He winced, screwing his eyes shut as he rubbed the heel of his palm against one eye.

It was like a sharp needle pierced into his eye. The pain lasted only a few seconds, but he remained standing there, unmoving, for several minutes after the pain faded. He took a deep, shuddering breath before he dropped his hand away. After blinking a few times, he stared at his reflection. Nothing looked wrong with his eyes, aside from the exhaustion weighing down on him. He leaned forward for a closer inspection. They were the same bright green as always. With a sigh, he pulled back, rubbing at his eyes again.

"You're just tired," he mumbled to himself, even if he knew that wasn't the answer. He shut off the bathroom light as he left.

He grabbed a pair of sweat pants out of his dresser and tugged them on. They were kind of an old pair, the waist hem fraying slightly in places. But they were comfy, and he still liked them. He walked over to his kitchen and searched through the refrigerator for something to eat. After some debating, he settled for heating up a leftover burrito that he couldn't finish off the other night.

With burrito in hand, he dropped onto the couch and kicked his feet up on the small table in front of the couch. He flipped through the channels on the television until he finally decided to settle on some cheesy superhero movie from about ten years ago. It was something he could have on in the background without having to think too hard while he unwound from the long day.

As he ate, he glanced around his apartment. It wasn't much, just a one bedroom with a small kitchen, but it was all he could afford with his small paycheck. He made a grumpy face then tore a large bite off the burrito. He made a lot more when he was still in Seattle, and he had quite a bit saved up, but the paycheck from his current job barely felt like a livable wage. He didn't mind the small apartment, though. But what were Dash and Valerie going to say about it? He valued his friends' opinions, and he didn't want them to think badly of him for having a cheaper place than they probably had. Maybe planning to have them over on Saturday was a bad idea, but he already invited them.

When he finished the burrito, he took the plate to the kitchen and set it in the sink to wash later. Then he returned to the couch and stared at the television without really seeing what was playing on it.

A loud bang on the door woke him with a jolt. When did he fall asleep? He couldn't be sure, but the television was now playing some late night talk show. He switched the television off as he stood. Who was knocking on his door at his hour? He groaned as he walked over to the door. _Please don't be him_ , he begged.

"I'm sorry," Kwan said as he opened the door, "about leaving the television on, Mr. Ha-" He froze when he looked up and saw Dash standing on the other side of the door. "D-Dash! What are you doing here?" He shook his head. "How did you know where I live?"

Dash rolled his eyes. "Please. I'm an investigative journalist. Do you really think I can't find where you live?"

"That's a little creepy." Kwan folded his arms as he frowned.

"I agree. Though as a friend, I'm insulted you never told me where you were living."

Kwan winced at the hurt look in Dash's eyes. "Okay. I probably should have mentioned it, but I was going to have you over on Saturday, so it's not like I was trying to hide where I live forever." He stepped aside to let Dash inside. "But, uh, I still have to ask why you're coming over now?"

Dash whirled around on him with his eyes wide in an incredulous look. "You texted me!" He flailed an arm, and Kwan cringed at the loudness of his voice as he closed the door. "Then you didn't reply! I got worried!"

"Oh, uh, right." Kwan walked over to the couch and picked up his phone from where he left it on his duffle bag. His stomach dropped as he looked over the multiple texts Dash sent him. And a text from his mother asking why he wasn't answering Dash. That explained how Dash figured out where he lived. He glanced back at Dash. "Whoops?"

"Whoops?" Dash shouted, his face scrunching up in that way it only did when he was really mad about something. "Is that all you have to say?"

"I didn't mean to make you worry." Kwan held out his hands. "I kind of sent the text and then forgot all about it. I guess I had my phone on silent, so I didn't hear your replies coming through."

Dash lowered his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. He exhaled noisily. "Okay." He lifted his head and folded his arms. "So what exactly did you have to ask me?"

Heat crept across Kwan's cheeks. "Oh, um," he looked away as he dropped his phone back onto his duffle bag. "Well, I kind of, uh, met someone tonight."

"Oh?" The anger fled from Dash's face, replaced by sudden interest. "What kind of guy was he?" He grinned with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

Kwan shook his head. "If you must know, yes, he was attractive."

Dash glanced around the apartment before his gaze landed back on Kwan. "He's not here, though, right?" He pointed to the floor. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Kwan stared hard, his jaw clenching slightly. "Do you really think I'm going to hook up with a guy I literally just met?"

Dash's hands shot into the air. "Hey! Whoa! I just wanted to be sure. I didn't want to cause some kind of embarrassing scene."

Kwan relaxed. "Do you want anything to drink? I've got tea or, uh, hot chocolate? I guess it's a little out of season for that. Sorry, I have no beer."

"That's okay. I don't really need anything." Dash walked over to the couch and dropped down on the far end. "So? What's the question you had about meeting a guy?"

Kwan sighed as he joined Dash on the couch. "Where to begin?" He rubbed a hand over his face. "I bumped into him after work, and he tried to hit on me with this really lame line."

"And that got you?" Dash lifted an eyebrow.

Kwan snorted. "No. Anyway I told him I was busy. I didn't think he would be interested in joining me for some boxing, but he didn't mind tagging along."

"My opinion of him so far is kind of iffy."

"I did enjoy boxing with him, though, and he's fun to talk with."

"But?"

Kwan glanced sideways, biting his lower lip. "But he mentioned liking to fight. Anger issues. It felt kind of like a red flag."

Dash frowned, his brow knitting with disapproval in his eyes. "But you still like him."

Kwan winced. "I know!" He threw his hands up. "I see the red flag, but that doesn't stop me from feeling what I feel."

"I don't want to encourage you to see someone who might be bad." Dash had his arms folded across his chest, and he tapped one finger on his bicep, deep in thought. "But I also know I can't force you not to see someone you like. I already messed up my friendship with Paulina doing that, and I really don't want to do the same with you."

"I heard about that. I'm sorry it turned out that way with Paulina." Kwan placed a hand on Dash's shoulder. "I hope she comes around eventually. I don't want her to be mad at you forever. I know you were just trying to look out for her."

"Unfortunately, she didn't really see it that way."

Kwan squeezed his shoulder. "One day, she'll see it." Then he sighed, leaning back against the couch. "I kind of already agreed to see him again." He caught the way Dash's mouth turned downward, but he didn't make a comment. "The thing is, he kind of left before we exchanged numbers. So I only know his first name, and I have no way to contact him." He turned his head fully toward Dash. "Do you think that means he, um," he bit the inside of his cheek, "wasn't that interest in me after all?"

"I find it hard to believe that any guy wouldn't be interested in you. And if he isn't interested in you, than he's a dumbass, because you're a great guy. The best guy!" Dash nudged his elbow into Kwan's side, grinning from ear to ear.

"Thanks." A small smile slipped onto Kwan's face.

"I don't know what to say about the whole not getting his number thing. Maybe it just slipped his mind?" Dash shrugged. "But I think, if he's the right guy, you'll find each other again."

"Like one of your cheesy rom-coms?" Kwan grinned.

"Hey!" Dash protested. "There's nothing wrong with some cheesiness."

Kwan laughed. "Okay. I guess not. But I doubt he's going to show up with a boom box and blast some old love song under my window."

"That movie is a classic!"

"Okay. Okay!" Kwan bit his lip to hold back another bout of laughter at Dash's grumpy face. He felt a lot better after talking with Dash, like a weight was no long crushing down on him. "Sorry my place is a bit cramped."

Dash snorted, shaking his head. "I don't care. It looks clean. And knowing you, I'm sure the bathroom and kitchen are spotless."

Kwan relaxed, only now noticing the tension in his shoulders. In the back of his mind, he kept waiting for Dash to make a comment about his apartment. He grinned as he lightly slapped Dash's arm. "Did you figure anything out about Phantom?"

"Oh, uh." Dash looked away, rubbing his neck, and the reaction got a curious look from Kwan. After a minute, Dash sighed. "I took your advice."

"And?"

Red blotches colored Dash's cheeks. "I went over to see Fenton."

"And?" Kwan nudged him for more information.

Dash groaned, rubbing his heel of his palms in his eyes. "I didn't even ask about Phantom!"

Kwan laughed. He couldn't help it. "You went all the way over to see him and forgot all about Phantom?"

"He gave me food!" Dash argued, dropping his hands away from his face. "I expected him to, like, tell me to go away or something. Not offer me dinner."

Kwan struggled not to keep laughing, but it was hard. "Why would you think that? Did something happen between you after Valerie and I left last night?"

Dash shook his head. "That's probably the weirdest part! We actually got along. He has every reason to yell at me and not want to have anything to do with me. But it felt like we could have been old friends."

"You could have been. If you didn't have that stick up your butt in high school." Kwan grinned as Dash scowled. "But we were all stupid in high school."

"You weren't."

Kwan rolled his eyes. "I wasn't? Remind me. How long did I deny that I liked guys?"

"Okay. But that wasn't entirely in the category of 'you were stupid.' We both had parents telling us that feeling anything toward people of the same gender was wrong." Dash gave him a stern look. "So I don't want to hear you say you were stupid."

Kwan laughed. "I won't say it then." He smiled. Even though they kept in touch, talking occasionally on the phone though more often keeping to just texting, but it wasn't the same as sitting and talking to his friends. He missed it. Maybe he should have come back to Amity Park sooner.


	7. Chapter 7

"You have to be kidding!" Danny almost choked on a gulp of his beer. He glanced across the kitchen table, still trying to process the fact that Dash Baxter was having dinner with him. It was like some surreal dream from when he was fourteen and desperately seeking Dash's friendship.

"To be fair, it was freshmen year during pledge week." Dash shrugged as he swirled some spaghetti around his fork. "And I wasn't the only one. There were five other guys who ran around campus naked too."

"And that makes it better?" Danny shook his head, the corner of his mouth quirking upward.

"I never said I was smart freshmen year."

Danny put down his bottle of beer after another sip. "So after this whole streaking escapade," he leaned back in his chair, "did you get into the fraternity?"

Dash shook his head. "No, but the people in the fraternity ended up being total jerks, so I was better off being rejected. Still kind of hurt when I found out I didn't get in."

"Ah, must have been hard." Danny rested one arm over the corner of his chair as he gave Dash a flat stare. "First time experiencing rejection like that?"

Dash scowled. "You could show a little sympathy." He shoved the forkful of spaghetti into his mouth.

Danny rolled his eyes at the utterly unattractive display. Dash even had a smear of the sauce over the corner of his mouth. "Sorry." He didn't sound sorry in the slightest. "But after being rejected by you, by the A List, all through high school, it's a little - I don't know." He rolled his wrist as he sought the right word. "Comforting? To know that even you experience rejection sometimes."

After swallowing the mouthful, Dash huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, I get rejected all the time. Especially since coming back here." He pushed around the remaining spaghetti on his plate.

"Really?" Danny cocked his eyebrow upward like he could hardly believe it. "I did read one of your articles. It was good. I can't imagine any news company here rejecting you." He picked up his bottle to take another sip. He had an inkling of what Dash was talking about.

"Oh, I got my job here fairly quickly. But I've been chasing a story for a while now, and I just can't seem to get the interview."

Danny kept his face neutral, but he was smiling inside. "Sounds tough. If you can't get the interview, are you going to give up on it?"

Dash barked out a laugh. "No! I don't give up on a challenge that easily."

Dread settled in Danny's gut. He hoped Dash would eventually get the picture and realize getting an interview with Phantom wasn't going to happen, but it sounded like he would be stuck with Dash shadowing his Phantom activities for the foreseeable future.

His phone buzzed, and Danny pulled it from his pocket. It was a message from Tucker. Danny sent a quick glance across the table to Dash, who was busy drinking his beer, before he opened the message. A smile spread across his face when he saw the picture sent to him.

"Must be something good."

Danny jerked his head up. "Oh, um, yeah." He hesitated. Would Dash even care? But he had sat there all night without saying anything mean or rude. Dash was such a different person now than he was back in high school. It almost made his head spin. Then he turned his phone around for Dash to see the image of Tucker passed out in a rocking chair with his daughter resting on his chest. Zoe sent a text with it: [ _All tuckered out_.] Then: [ _Ali wants to meet her godfather soon!_ ]

Dash nearly choked on his beer. He coughed, and after he cleared his throat, he shouted, "Foley has a kid?"

Danny winced at the loudness. "She was born just yesterday."

"Damn." Dash shook his head. "I can't believe Foley got married, let alone had a kid."

"What?" Danny frowned as he took back his phone. "Did you think he would be alone forever?"

"No, no!" Dash held up a hand. "I didn't mean it like that. Just - It's surprising. That's all."

"Uh huh." Danny side eyed Dash then flicked his gaze to Dash's hands. No ring. "I guess you haven't bothered to settle down with anyone yet?"

"I guess I just haven't found the right person yet." Dash shrugged with a wry smirk. "But I think I recall something about you just getting out of a relationship." He leaned forward on the table, resting his chin in his hand. "What happened there?"

"Oh, no!" Danny shook his head until a shock of cold sent a jolt through him.

Dash showing up on his doorstep was such a surprise that the shock made him forget about something important: Dan. He should have made some excuse to get rid of Dash and then chase after Dan, but his brain seemed to shut down at the sight of Dash. Now he sensed Dan's return.

"One moment." He held up a finger as he stood. Then he rushed out of the kitchen, leaving behind, without a doubt, a confused Dash. He didn't care if Dash thought he was weird for running out like that. It wouldn't be the first time he had to run off in the middle of a conversation.

Danny raced up the stairs, practically flying up them. He charged into his bedroom, where he sensed Dan's presence. Grabbing fistfuls of Dan's leather jacket, Danny rammed into the wall with a loud thud. His eyes flashed dangerously green.

"Where did you go?" Danny demanded heatedly, struggling to keep his voice low so Dash wouldn't overhear them. "What did you do?"

"You little shi-" Dan gasped when Danny pressed him harder into the wall. A grin cut across his face as he let his human disguise drop, his red eyes gleaming with delight. "I already had a bit of fun tonight, but I'm always up for another fight."

"Fight?" Danny repeated slowly, narrowing his eyes. "What fight?"

Dan laughed, which didn't help improve Danny's mood. "It was his suggestion."

"What-" His ghost sense went off again. Danny ground his teeth, sensing the presence of a second ghost entering his parents' laboratory. The ghost traveled up through the first floor to the second. Danny freed one hand, half turning away from Dan. He held out his hand, already glowing in preparation to blast the ghost.

"Whoa, Danny!" Ember held up her hands when she appeared in his room. "What is going on here?"

Danny sighed, relaxing as he lowered his arm. "What are you doing here, Ember?"

Frowning, Ember placed one hand on her hip. "Well, I thought we had planned to meet up tonight. When you didn't show, I thought I'd coming looking for you." Her eyebrow raised as she looked past him to Dan. "Who's this idiot?"

"Hey!" Dan shouted in protest.

"Shh!" Danny glared at him. "Dash is still downstairs."

"Dash is here?" Dan's brow furrowed. "That asshole that bullied you in high school is here? Why? Should we kick his ass? I could go down there and scare the shit out of him."

"No!" Danny pointed a finger in Dan's face. "None of that. If you so much as show yourself, your ghost self especially, in front of him, I will cram you back into that Thermos."

"Hey, whoa, hold up!" Dan pried Danny's hand from his clothes then shoved his way into Danny's face. "How was I supposed to know you were on such good terms with him now? In case you forgot, my last memories of Dash are things like being shoved into lockers and having sandwiches thrown in my face. So excuse me if I thought there might still be hard feelings between the two of you."

"Do I even want to ask about what's going on?" Ember shifted her weight as she folded her arms. "Because right now, you two are just sounding like morons."

"For some reason, Clockwork thought it was a good idea to let this-" Danny scowled at Dan. "To let him out of the Thermos." He was willing to accept it last night, but now he was beginning to think he should pay a visit to Clockwork. "Then he sneaks out, and I would like to know what exactly he did tonight."

Dan snarled. "Do you really think I'm going to do anything to get put back in that thing? After fourteen years?" He walked dangerously close to shouting again.

"Fourteen years?" Ember gasped, her mouth hanging open.

Danny turned to stare at her.

"No offense, Danny." Ember shook her head. "I don't know if you've ever spent time in the Thermos before."

"A couple of times," Danny admitted. "Jazz had some troubles with it after she learned about me."

"Well, I bet you didn't spend much time in there before your sister or friends let you out. But sometimes, when you capture one of us," she pointed to herself, "you sometimes let us sit in the Thermos for hours until you release us back into the Ghost Zone. And I've heard from some ghosts who were left in there for days because you forgot."

Danny winced.

"It's not pleasant being in that Thermos for even that small amount of time. Fourteen years just sounds like torture." Ember shuddered. "If it were me, I would be doing everything possible to never be put back in the Thermos for even another second."

Danny hesitated before turning his gaze back to Dan. He did remember what it was like being sucked into the Thermos. He hated it. It was cramped and uncomfortable, and he swore a smell lingered on him for days afterwards, no matter how much he showered. Maybe he was being too harsh on Dan with his threats. After fourteen years of solitude within the Thermos, Danny was surprised Dan didn't come out of it even more insane than he was before being sucked inside it.

"You can't just go off on your own though," Danny said in a calmer tone. "I need to know I can trust you, and I can't if you just run off without a word."

"Fine. Whatever." Dan huffed with his hands held up.

"I still want to know where you went, what you did, and what that was about a fight." Danny glared.

"So what exactly did he do to get locked up in the Thermos for fourteen years?" Ember moved to stand next to Danny, lifting a curious eyebrow as her gaze flicked over Dan. "I mean, you didn't do anything that extreme to Vlad, in the end."

"Oh, you know," Dan rolled a shoulder as his mouth stretched into a cocky grin, "destroyed my world, tried to destroy this world."

"What?" Ember shouted.

"Shh!" Danny waved a hand. "Okay. You two, stay here and be quiet. I have to go deal with Dash before he starts thinking there's something seriously weird going on." He wanted to get answers out of Dan, but first he should consider getting Dash out of the house. After one more look shot at Dan, Danny left his bedroom. He hurried back down the stairs and jogged into the kitchen. "Sorry about that."

"What was all that about?" Dash lifted his gaze from his phone.

"Oh, just," Danny laughed, shaking his head as he scrambled for an excuse, "I remembered my work laptop's battery was basically dead when I left today. If I'm going to do anything tonight, I thought I should get it charging." He sat down, hoping the lame excuse was believable enough.

"Uh huh." Dash nodded, but Danny thought he spotted suspicion in his eyes. "So," he set his phone down next to his plate, "you were about to tell me about your last relationship."

Danny groaned. "Are we really doing this?"

"Hey," Dash shrugged as he sat back, "I'm an investigative journalist. I don't exactly give up on topics easily."

"I know," Danny muttered under his breath. "It was really nothing," he said hurriedly when he caught a lifting of Dash's eyebrow.

"From your reaction last night, it didn't seem like just nothing." Dash glanced at his phone.

"Expecting a message?" Danny would happily take any excuse not to talk about his ex.

Dash shook his head, but he picked up his phone and typed out a message before setting it down again. "Not really. Kwan texted while you were gone. It was probably just about this Saturday." His head jerked up as his gaze shot toward Danny. "Uh, it probably wouldn't be a big deal if you came. Kwan's not the type to get mad about someone just showing up. But I probably shouldn't be just randomly inviting people along to whatever he has planned."

Danny laughed, though in the back of his mind, he couldn't forget about Dan and Ember still upstairs. "It's still a little weird that you would invite me to do anything with you. I can't even believe you're sitting here, in my kitchen, and you're not here to see my sister."

"I can't believe I'm here too." Dash shook his head. "But don't think I'm going to forget about your dramatic breakup."

Danny rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't call it dramatic."

"Well, in my head, it's dramatic until you tell me otherwise."

Danny sighed. "Fine." He raked a hand through his hair. "I dated this guy, Bryce." He glared when he heard a snort from Dash. "Do you want me to tell you about this or not?"

"Sorry. Sorry." Dash held up a hand. "It's just Bryce already sounds like a jerk."

"Gee, I wish I had your insight before I started dating him. He seemed nice. In the beginning."

"Don't they always? Ow!" Dash winced after Danny kicked him under the table, though not too hard.

"Anyway," Danny stressed the word as he glared at Dash, "we dated for about six months. And it was good. I even moved in with him toward the end. Then things took a turn." He grimaced at the memories. "Since Valerie and I work together, we talk a lot. Bryce, knowing I'm bisexual, decided that meant I had to be cheating on him with her. I must have told him a million times that Valerie and I haven't been romantically interested in each other in over a decade."

"Let me guess. Bryce wouldn't listen to you and remained jealous."

"Bingo!" Danny bobbed his head. "And I wish that was it. Because of the way he was acting, I told him I needed some space, so I moved out. Bryce didn't like that. Everywhere I went, he would show up. He would come here at odd hours in the night. Well, until my dad answered the door one night and blasted him in the face with some goo. To be fair, it was like four in the morning, and he was still half asleep."

"Oh no, not judging. I think he deserved worse than that from how this all is sounding." Dash's eyes widened over the course of listening to him, somewhat in concern but mostly in disgust. "How did you get him to stop bothering you?"

"Telling him it was over certainly didn't seem to mean anything to him. He actually tried to say that was proof that I was cheating on him with Valerie." Danny shook his head, still in disbelief at how quickly Bryce spiraled into crazy. "I ended up getting a restraining order against him. I wasn't sure it would actually work, but he's left me alone since then." A little ghostly help may have convinced Bryce to keep his distance.

"Well, if he comes around again," Dash pointed at Danny then to himself, "you let me know."

Danny laughed. Dash, the guy who bullied him in high school, was offering to act like a bodyguard for him? It was such a change, Danny could hardly believe Dash was actually suggesting it.

"Or you know, just have Valerie beat him up." Dash shrugged, but he looked away like Danny laughing at his offer had offended him.

"I don't mean to sound like I'm laughing at you." Danny bit his lip, still smiling. "It's just - This is all so strange. I never would have imagined talking with you like this."

"Yeah," Dash huffed out a laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck, "that's for sure. But that guy sounds like some serious bad news."

"No kidding." Danny watched as Dash checked his phone again. "Still no answer from Kwan?"

"He's probably just busy." Dash shrugged, but his brow creased. "It's not really a big deal."

"Just worried about the whole something's off thing?"

Dash frowned. "I was trying not to think about it, but yeah, maybe a bit. I'm not going to push it though." He turned his phone over so the screen rested on the table.

"Maybe he's ready to talk about it with you," Danny suggested. As much as he was enjoying talking with Dash, he still had a little matter upstairs to deal with.

Dash eyed him, his mouth pursing slightly. "Can't tell if you're being serious or just trying to get rid of me." Then he sighed, standing up. "But you may have a point. If Kwan's reaching out to talk about what's bothering him, I should be there."

Danny got up and followed Dash to the front door. "If it is about that, I hope it isn't anything too serious. Kwan's a good guy."

"Yeah," Dash agreed as he stood on the front step, "he doesn't deserve to have anything bad happen to him." But the look in his eyes suggested he was reflecting on some bad things that had happened to Kwan. Danny didn't want to think about what might have happened in the past. "Well, I guess I'll see you around."

Danny nodded. "If you ever need anything."

After saying goodbye to each other, Danny closed the front door. He waited a beat, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, then headed back upstairs to his bedroom. When he walked into the room, he stopped, blinking at the scene before him. Ember and Dan sat on his bed. Dan had one leg bent under him while the other hung off the edge of the bed. He rested his elbow on his bent leg as he leaned on his arm. Ember, meanwhile, was busily painting the nails of his other hand.

"What," Danny asked slowly as he walked closer, "is going on?"

"Revenge for Dan busting my vocals," Ember answered. She lifted her gaze from her work to glower at Dan.

"I regret everything in my life."

Danny snorted. "You say that like Jazz never practiced on us." He sat down on the bed. "I guess he's been filling you in on what happened in his timeline."

"Oh yeah." Ember nodded. "I am so glad that is not our timeline."

"Yeah." Danny turned to Dan. "All right. You want me to trust that you're not the same destructive force that went into the Thermos, then you have to tell me what you did tonight."

Dan huffed a sigh. "You're expecting something horrible and dramatic, and it was none of that."

"You mentioned fighting." Danny leveled a glare on him.

"I didn't go looking to beat people up." Dan rolled his eyes. When Ember tapped at his other arm, Dan sat up straighter, offering his other hand to have the nails painted. "I mean, I certainly wouldn't have minded if I happened upon a reason to actually punch someone in the face. And by that, I mean like someone robbing another person," he added as Danny frowned. "No such luck there, but I did run into someone."

The grin stretching across Dan's face unsettled Danny. "Ran into someone?" His frowned deepened. "Who did you run into?"

Dan rolled a shoulder. "Oh, you know, just Kwan."

"What?" Danny jerked up straight, his eyes growing wide. "Kwan? What did you do to him? I swear if you-" He pointed a finger in Dan's face.

"I didn't do anything to him," Dan growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously as his lip pulled back in a snarl.

"Oh ho!" Ember grinned like a Cheshire cat. "I think Dan has a crush on someone."

"What?" Danny snapped his head around to her.

"If you saw his ass," Dan winked, "you'd be interested too."

Danny rubbed at his face. "This is not at all what I expected to hear." He dropped his hands and stared warily at Dan. "What happened with Kwan?"

"He took me boxing. It was fun. He has a good arm. If I wasn't a ghost, it might have hurt a lot more."

"You seem way too happy about this."

"It's a healthier outlet for my aggression than going around looking from bad guys to beat up all the time."

"That is a good point," Ember pointed out.

Danny sighed tiredly. "And that was it?"

"Well, I would have liked to do more with him." Dan's smirk was far too suggestive. "But I wasn't about to push for something he wasn't ready for. I let him decide how things went. He wanted to call it a night after the boxing, so I left." He shrugged.

"This is too weird." Danny shook his head. He wasn't sure about letting Dan hang out around Kwan again, but if it kept him in line, maybe it wasn't entirely a bad thing. He just didn't want Dan to do anything to hurt Kwan.


	8. Chapter 8

"Did you give up on babysitting him?" Valerie asked. It was well past when she would have liked to leave work. The sky was already darkening. As much as she appreciated being given the position of running the company, sometimes she felt like Vlad appointed her to the position too young. The first year was the worst. She already worked at Axiom Labs for a few years by that time, but suddenly taking over the whole company was far more responsibility than she was prepared for, even with Vlad directly mentoring her for eventually taking over.

Danny's head popped up, his dark hair sticking out oddly from having dozed off at some point toward the end of the day. Valerie bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snickering at the sight. As his boss, she should really scold him for napping on the job, but she knew he had a lot more on his mind with his other job.

Danny leaned back in his chair, rubbing the heels of his palms against his eyes. "Ugh! I wouldn't be able to get any work done if he was hanging around." He dropped his hands and let them flop onto his desk. "Just having him around for one day was enough to nearly drive me crazy."

"From your stories, I can imagine." Valerie pushed away from the doorway, stepping fully into his office as the door closed behind her. "So what did you do with him?"

"We talked last night, and well, if I really want to find out if I can trust him, I guess I have to actually let him do stuff without my constant supervision."

"Is that wise?" Valerie frowned. From what she knew of Danny's stories, Dan was probably the most dangerous ghost Danny ever faced.

"Probably not." Danny shrugged. "But I'm trying to trust him more."

Valerie lifted her eyebrow, the response coming as a bit of a surprise. She expected Danny to remain distrustful of Dan for a lot longer. And maybe if they were still teenagers, he wouldn't trust Dan to go even a second unsupervised. But Danny had matured a lot since high school. He didn't always attack first whenever a ghost showed up in town, unless of course, the ghost was actually threatening harm to people.

"What happened last night to bring this on?"

Danny sighed as he gathered up some papers scattered around his desk. "He got out last night, and after a talk, I realized maybe I need to chill out a bit. I'll never find Dan trustworthy if I'm standing over him the whole time expecting him to do something bad."

"Wow. Growth." Valerie grinned when Danny looked up from packing up his things to shoot her a withering glare.

"I'm still half waiting to find him blowing up a building or something." Danny grimaced, but Valerie couldn't blame him for his doubts. Dan had gone on a destructive rampage in his timeline.

"I haven't had any alerts pop up today, if that makes you feel better." Valerie caught the hint of relief in his blue eyes. "But are you certain you can trust the whole 'Clockwork sent me' spiel he gave you?"

"I was thinking of paying Clockwork a visit. Hear it straight from the horse's mouth and all that."

"Visit Clockwork?" Valerie's eyebrows shot up with interest. "Do I get to meet this Master of Time?"

Danny stared in comical surprise. "You'd, um, actually want to go into the Ghost Zone?"

Valerie shrugged. "After all these years? It's probably a bit crazy that I haven't visited again." That whole thing with Skulker and flour sack didn't exactly give her the chance to look around and really see the Ghost Zone.

Danny chuckled. "Well, if you insist." He pulled his bag over his shoulder. "You can come to my house later tonight, and we can go see Clockwork together."

"Will Dan be tagging along?" Valerie wasn't sure she wanted to be around Dan for any given period of time, but if they were going to have to team up with him, she would have to get used to his presence.

"Seeing as he's involved, probably?" Danny frowned, a worry line creasing his brow. "But if you prefer not being around him, we can leave him behind."

Valerie shook his head. "As long as he behaves, it should be fine. Of course, if he doesn't." She smacked a hand into her fist.

Danny smiled. "I think he knows not to get on your bad side."

"Good." Valerie did her best not to let a smirk slip onto her face, but it might have made her pride swell a bit to know Dan, destroyer of one timeline, could feel threatened by her. "Then I'll meet you at your place later."

Danny nodded. "Sounds good. See you then."

After their goodbyes, they left Danny's office. Valerie headed back to her own office to gather a few things before heading back to her apartment. She let Danny leave ahead of her, not want to give the other employees more reason to direct anger toward them. They acted politely around her, but she could see the resentment in their eyes. The senior employees hated working under someone so much younger, especially when they felt like they were passed over for the position of running the company.

In her office, Valerie checked on a few things, skimming through some of the project proposals piling up on her desk. She divided them into piles of importance for a deeper review in the morning. Then she checked her e-mail, not many requiring her immediate attention. She could save them for a later time. What was meant to be a quick stop turned out to take her just about an hour. She rubbed at her tired eyes. An early night wouldn't be a terrible idea, but she wasn't about to miss out on the opportunity to meet this Clockwork ghost.

With her things packed up, Valerie left her office and headed out of the building. The parking lot was fairly empty, most of the employees having left for the day. The only ones who remained were the cleaning staff and security. Valerie walked to her car, parked right near the front entrance. There were some advantages to running the company. When she reached her car, she climbed into the driver's seat, dropping her bag onto the passenger's seat. On the drive back to her apartment, she sang along to whatever song played on the radio, belting out the lyrics, even if she didn't know all of them. She found it helped to relieve stress, and some days, she really needed to let loose after a long day at work.

And there wasn't always a ghost needing a good butt kicking to do the trick.

Valerie got to her apartment and put away her bag. She happily got out of her work clothes and changed into something far more comfortable. After heating up some leftovers from the refrigerator, she kicked back in her comfy chair and relaxed while she ate. When she finished, she decided it was time to head over to Danny's house. She left her dishes from eating in the sink then grabbed her jacket on the way out of her apartment.

By the time she reached Danny's house, Valerie felt less stressed after a long day at work. She parked and climbed out of her car. As she closed the door, something clattered along the pavement, coming to a stop near her feet. With a frown, she bent down and picked up the stone, closing her fingers around it.

"You know," she said as she stood up straight, "if you wanted to intimidate me, you should really work on your throw."

"Shut up!"

Valerie turned around and lifted her eyebrow at Bryce, standing several feet down the street. Bryce was maybe only an inch or two taller than Danny, though the slight height advantage did absolutely nothing to intimidate Valerie. She had faced bigger and scarier. His brown hair was spiked up, but the frosted tips were new. Maybe he thought that would make him somehow more attractive. It didn't.

Bryce snapped his arm out, pointing an accusatory finger at her. "If you weren't seeing Danny this whole time, why are you here now?"

Valerie rolled her eyes. His ability to think logically was severely lacking. "I guess that restraining order really just went over your head if you're still loitering around his house and spying on him."

"You didn't deny it." His green eyes set in a glare, his mind made up. Nothing she said would convince him of what he had already decided to be the truth.

Valerie tossed the stone up in the air, following it with her eyes as she caught it again. Then, in a swift movement, she threw it at him. The stone soared through the air, whizzing mere centimeters past his ear. Bryce flinched, his Adams apple bobbing when he gulped.

Someone whistled, and Valerie only flicked her gaze toward Danny's house to notice Dan leaning up against the front door. He slow clapped, his mouth twitching like he was struggling hard not to grin like a maniac.

"Now that's how you intimidate someone." Dan folded his arms, not moving away from the door.

"Who's that?" Bryce tried to regain his anger, but his voice wavered. "Need a bodyguard now?"

Dan snorted. "She doesn't need a bodyguard. She'd crush you like a bug under her shoe without breaking a sweat."

"Does Danny know you're out here?" Valerie asked, turning her head to Dan.

"Don't just ignore me!" Bryce shouted.

"You're not even worth the breath." Valerie sighed as she walked toward the front door. "Just go home. Danny's not interested, and I have some work related business to discuss with him."

"Work related?" Bryce scoffed. "This late at night?"

"He's lucky I can't go around beating up people," Dan muttered when Valerie was close enough. "Because this jerk is already making me want to do some pretty bad things to him."

"I think for once I can agree with your thinking." Valerie frowned, the idea leaving a sour taste in her mouth. Bryce showed his true colors, and they weren't pretty. "It's better if we just ignore him though. His head's so thick, nothing can get through it. Let's just go inside."

"As the lady wishes."

"Don't make me slap you." Valerie glared.

"Hey!" Bryce shouted in protest from the street. "Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"We all know you're not going to do anything," Valerie shouted back as Dan opened the door. "So go home." She walked into the house, and she was fairly certain Dan sent a rude gesture to Bryce before he closed the door behind them.

"Did I hear shouting?" Danny asked as he walked down the stairs with a towel over his shoulders.

"Just some jerk harassing Val." Dan shrugged. "Who was that guy anyway?"

"Just someone Danny used to date." Valerie cast a glance toward Danny, and fury burned in his eyes as his mouth thinned.

"Bryce?" Danny growled, a deep rumbling in the back of his throat. His eyes verged on shifting to green. "And I thought he was actually respecting the restraining order."

"And I thought our little fright would scare him off." Valerie huffed, annoyed to see that nuisance again.

"Fright?" Dan asked with a lift of his eyebrow, interest piquing.

Danny sent him a tired look. "It wasn't anything like what you would do. We just wanted to give him a little scare to make him back off. But I guess that only worked for a little while, and he's managed to get some courage back."

"Or he's just really dense," Valerie said flatly. "My money's on dense."

"I could give him a real scare."

"No!" Danny and Valerie shouted, shooting Dan dark glares. Dan held up his hands, taking a step back, but he looked a bit miffed he wouldn't be allowed to have some fun.

"Let's just forget about him. He's not a threat, and I don't want to waste my night dealing with him." Valerie folded her arms. Bryce effectively ruined what good mood she managed to get after unwinding for a bit from work. Now she felt tense and angry, and she wasn't happy about it. If she had no restraint, she would have punched Bryce the moment she saw him. Thankfully, she had mellowed out since high school. When she got angry, she didn't immediately lash out at everyone.

"Right. We should probably go." Danny pulled the towel from his shoulders as he walked toward the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Dan asked, trailing behind them like a lost puppy. The thought almost made Valerie laugh.

"We're going to talk to Clockwork." Danny draped the towel over the back of a chair at the kitchen table. "He didn't exactly provide you with a lot of information." He turned to look over his shoulder, sending Dan a withering glare. "So we want to ask him directly."

Dan huffed, folding his arms. "Still don't believe me?"

"You don't have the greatest track record," Valerie said, earning a scowl from Dan. "We just want to see what kind of information he might give us."

Dan's face twisted. "I don't have to go. Do I? I already spent enough time in that damn tower."

"You were-" Danny stopped himself, his mouth pursing slightly. "If you can behave, you don't have to come." He pointed a finger at Dan. "Don't engage with Bryce. Just ignore that jerk."

"Are you sure?"

Danny leveled his gaze. "Yes, I'm sure. I just want to forget all about him." His expression lightened as he turned to Valerie. "You ready to go?"

"You bet!" Valerie held up a fist.

"Behave," Danny ordered of Dan again.

"Yeah, yeah." Dan waved him off. "Just go already."

Danny frowned, but he led the way down into the basement, his parents' laboratory. Valerie visited quite a few times since she discovered Danny's secret of being Phantom. It was somewhat cleaner than the last time she was there. She attributed that to the fact that his parents hadn't been home in a number of months.

"How are your parents doing?"

"Hm?" Danny glanced over his shoulder as he opened the doors to the Portal. "Oh, they're doing pretty good. Having fun in Ireland to research some of the haunted places there. I think they wanted to travel to Australia next."

"Sounds like they're enjoying themselves." Valerie suited up, though she left her helmet off for the time being.

"I can't imagine how they're enjoying themselves with Vlad tagging along," Danny shrugged as he shifted to ghost form. "But as long as I don't have to deal with him anymore."

"Now that he isn't being an evil dick, he isn't that bad of a guy."

"He was nicer to you."

Valerie shrugged. "You might have a point. "Well," she called up her helmet, "let's get going." She hopped onto her speed board then followed Danny through the Portal into the Ghost Zone. Passing through the swirling green sent a shiver of cold washing over her. After a shudder, she looked up and blinked. "Okay. This is weird."

She might have imagined some crazy creepy place with ghosts everywhere. But beyond the Portal, it was more like she passed through a mirror. They were still in Danny's parents' laboratory, though it was now cast in a eerie green glow.

"Yeah." Danny frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. "It just kind of happened. Over the years since the Portal activated, it just kind of developed a replica of the house around it. I think it's sort of become my lair? But I haven't quite figured out how to keep other ghosts out. If I could do that, they wouldn't be able to access the portal." 

"Why am I not surprised?" Valerie shook her head, a smile tugging at her mouth. "I'm just going to ignore the weirdness. We should probably get a move on. I think your house existing in the Ghost Zone is actually creepier than whatever is outside of it."

"Right." Danny sounded uncertain.

They left ghostly Fenton Works, and Danny led the way to Clockwork's Tower. Valerie was wrong. The Ghost Zone was filled lots of weird and creepy sights. But it wasn't all bad. She recognized a number of ghosts they passed, though they mostly ignored them. Doors floated everywhere with some ghosts exiting or entering them, but then there were also massive floating land masses. The ghosts' lairs, Valerie assumed.

"Welcome to Clockwork's Tower," Danny announced as he touched down on the bit of broken earth in front of the doors of the tower.

Valerie tilted her head back to take in the whole of it. "A clock tower, huh. I don't know why I would have expected anything different."

Danny shrugged. They headed into the clock tower, and Danny led the way to the upper chamber. Valerie halted when she saw all the viewing portals along the wall, playing out various scenes. Some of them looked like they played the same scene but with minor differences.

"Ah." The ghost hovering in front of the viewing portals turned around to face them. His face was wrinkled and aged, his white beard nearly reaching the entire length of his body. Then in the next instant, he was a floating child. "Young Ms. Gray. It's nice to finally meet you."


	9. Chapter 9

Valerie leaned over to him. "Is that normal?"

Folding his arms, Danny nodded. "Yeah, but thankfully, it's not a constant thing. He'll stick to one form for at least a couple of minutes before changing."

"Oh. Good."

"If you're finished talking about me." Clockwork's childish face scrunched up in a perturbed expression. Danny managed to look embarrassed, but Valerie didn't seem impressed by him. "As young Daniel knows well, I can't interfere too much with the timeline. I can only give nudges here and there to help keep time going along the right path."

"Yeah, I got that whole thing already." Valerie waved off his explanation. "I kind of figured you weren't going to just come out and tell us what big threat on the way is."

Clockwork's mouth curved into a smirk as his face aged into a young man. "Quite right. If you knew, the future might change based on the actions you take next after gaining that knowledge."

"And the future based on those actions could be far worse than what we could ever imagine," Danny said, rolling his eyes. This wasn't the first time he heard the speech from Clockwork. And he had already seen firsthand how meddling with time could take a bad turn. "I got it. But of all the ghosts to send to help out, did you really think Dan was the right one?"

Clockwork sent him a bland look. "Do you honestly think I would send him to help you if I thought this would turn out poorly?"

Danny huffed to himself, but Clockwork did have a point.

"You can't blame us for wanting to confirm with you," Valerie said. "I've only heard stories about him, but it didn't sound like Dan would be the most willing to play hero to help us fight any kind of threat."

"The two of you are quite capable. I'm sure you can handle what life has in store for you just fine."

"Aha!" Danny pointed at Clockwork. "You do have some sort of ulterior motive in the works here, don't you?"

Clockwork sighed, and Valerie nudged Danny, hard, in the ribs. "I would have thought you, of all people, would understand the value of second chances."

Danny's mouth thinned. Why was that always getting thrown back at him? He already learned the lesson of second chances! If he hadn't, he would still be beating up ghosts without a second thought, seeing them only as evil nuisances interfering with his life. Now he knew not all ghosts were bad and he didn't always need to use violence to deal with them.

"What made you decide Dan deserves a second chance?" Danny folded his arms again. "Why now? Why not any other time?"

"Because time is exactly what was needed." Clockwork leaned on his staff like the conversation was aging him a million years. His appearance hadn't shifted away from his young man form though. "Dan needed the time to let go of some of his anger and start to want to change. And you," he pointed a finger at Danny's chest, "needed the time to mature enough to accept that maybe Dan can change."

Danny narrowed his eyes. He hated Clockwork being right. But Clockwork was always right. If this was a few years ago, he might have immediately crammed Dan right back into the Thermos without even thinking of listening to a word out of his mouth. Even a few days ago, that was basically his response to Dan's sudden appearance. He still didn't like the realization of the trauma caused by being stuck in the Thermos. Maybe Dan had good reason to attack him after fourteen years in there.

"Okay. Point taken." Danny sighed. "So there's really nothing else you can tell us?"

"Just keep your eyes open."

"Always so helpful," Danny said dryly, and Clockwork merely offered a flat stare in return.

"At the very least, we've confirmed that Dan isn't just lying about something coming up soon," Valerie whispered, leaning over to Danny. "I guess knowing that gives us a small advantage. It would be nice," she glanced over to Clockwork, her mouth pursing slightly, "to know what exactly to look out for, but we'll have to be happy with what we have."

Danny sighed. "Yeah, I guess. It's better than being blindsided." He rubbed absently at his throat, recalling Dan's reappearance in his life. He wasn't happy about the whole situation, but Dan did have reason to be angry with him. "If that's all we're getting out of him," he glanced to Valerie, "I guess it's time to get back home."

"Hm," Valerie leaned in like she was scrutinizing him, "are you sure there isn't somewhere else you wanted to go tonight?"

"What do you mean?" Danny's brow drew together.

Clockwork released a drawn out sigh as he pinched his nose. "I know you're not this dense, Daniel."

"Tucker's baby," Valerie supplied, folding her arms. "We can make a stop by there. It's still fairly early, and we can easily zip back home afterward. And if Dan does anything wrong, we can kick his butt together."

"How did you know?"

Valerie patted Danny on the shoulder. "You do know I keep in contact with them too, right? He texted me when they had the baby." She shrugged. "But with running a business, finding the time to just jet off to visit and meet their child isn't exactly easy."

"Oh." Danny didn't even think about that fact. Of course Tucker would have contacted all of them about his daughter being born. He rubbed his forehead. He was letting the whole thing with Dan mess with his logical thinking. "Right. Uh, I guess we should get going. We don't want to drop in on them too late."

"Then," Valerie dropped her hands onto his shoulders and turned him around, "let's stop delaying."

"Yes, yes, go." Clockwork waved them off. "I'm quite busy enough already."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Enjoy your shows," he teased before Valerie shoved him out the door. "So how are you enjoying your first visit to the Ghost Zone?" he asked once they were standing outside of Clockwork's Tower. "Well, first visit that wasn't accompanied by being handcuffed to me and chased around by a crazy hunter."

"You're such a child sometimes." Valerie shook her head. "It's," she turned her head to take a look around, "interesting. I guess I kind of thought it would all look like that jungle place. But I see that was just another ghost's lair now." Then she slapped him on the shoulder. "So how do we get to Tucker's place?"

"Easy." Danny grinned, placing his hands on his hips. "The Ghost Zone basically exists parallel to our-"

Valerie placed a finger to his lips. "I don't need a full explanation. Just get us there."

Danny huffed, disappointed. "Fine, fine. Follow me."

He took off, flying through the Ghost Zone. Valerie caught up easily with him and flew at his side on her speed board. Thankfully, the Ghost Zone was relatively quiet tonight. He hoped Valerie didn't think this was the norm because he lost count of the number of times he had to fight his way back out of the Ghost Zone over the years. Danny cast a glance around, cautiously scanning for any traps Skulker might have left around to catch him.

After a few minutes more of flying, Danny finally came to a stop. "Okay. This spot should be good enough."

He reached into a pocket on the inside of his jacket. With a grin, he twirled the cylindrical device between his fingers then hit the button on the side that popped out a small blade. Even with the mask of her helmet obscuring her face, Valerie didn't seem impressed. Danny's shoulders slumped slightly as he sliced a portal open. He stuck his head through the portal, looking around.

"It's safe," Danny announced after not spotting anyone in the area. He stepped through the portal, which opened up into a darkened part of a park surrounded thickly by trees.

Valerie passed through the portal a moment later, as Danny transformed back to his normal self. "That's a pretty handy device."

"I can only use it a few times before having to recharge it, but for a quick trip like this, it works pretty well." Danny shrugged.

"How'd you come up with it?" Valerie called in her suit.

"I talked with Wulf a bit." Danny walked out of the ring of trees, and Valerie followed him. "His claws are able to rip portals open, so I thought studying him might help me out."

"You didn't get any help from anyone?" Valerie lifted an eyebrow.

Danny narrowed his eyes, guessing where that line of questions was going. "I talked to my parents. My dad had the grand idea of dragging Vlad in on it. How do you think they're doing all of their traveling? They get to study the Ghost Zone first hand while going from place to place to study the famous haunted locations. I'm surprised spending so much time with my dad hasn't made Vlad snap yet."

"I guess he really has changed."

Danny shrugged as he pulled out his phone to check their location. "He knows if he tries anything, he has a lot more than just you and me to stop him now." The portal he opened ended up being in a good place. The park was only a few blocks away from Tucker's house. He led the way out of the park and down the street.

"I suppose you have a good point there."

When they reached the house, Danny knocked on the door. It was a nice little two story house, nothing big or fancy, but it seemed cozy enough for a family of three. After a few minutes, the door opened.

"Danny!" Sam dragged him into a hug before he even had a chance to open his mouth. When she pulled away, she slugged him on the arm. "What took you so long?"

"Ow!" Danny rubbed at his arm. "I had something come up. But I'm here now."

"Are you going to invite us in?" Valerie asked.

"Right." Sam stepped aside, opening to door wider to let them into the house. Once they were in the house, she closed the door. "Tucker is helping Zoe with changing Ali's diaper."

"I don't know if help is the right word." Zoe laughed as she walked down the stairs with Ali cradled in her arms.

Tucker's cheeks darkened. "I told you I'm still not that good at the whole diaper changing thing."

"It's a lot different than changing a flour sack, huh?" Sam smirked.

"I was great at it with flour sacks! I had a whole system worked out." Tucker huffed. "But flour sacks don't wiggle around."

Danny glanced toward Valerie, catching her gaze. Maybe she was thinking back on the whole flour sack project too. He winced inwardly at the memory. At the time, having to be partnered with Valerie sounded awful enough to him. Skulker targeting the flour sack to get at him only made it worse. Danny had to thank Tucker's mother for turning the rest of the class's flour sacks into baked goods.

"When did you two get in?" Tucker finished coming down the stairs and pulled Danny into a hug then gave one to Valerie. "And you came together?" He lifted an eyebrow.

"Don't get any ideas in your head." Valerie shot him a flat look. "You know perfectly well Danny and I are just friends."

Tucker shrugged. "It's not like you never dated."

"I dated Sam too," Danny reminded. "But why are we talking about people I've dated?"

"Yeah, I'm more interested in this 'something came up' you mentioned." Sam folded her arms with that determined look in her eyes Danny knew all too well. When she gave him that look, she wasn't about to just let his comment get swept under the rug without answers.

When Danny glanced toward her, Zoe rolled her eyes. "You know I'm not going to say a word of this to anyone, but I'll let you have your moment alone. I should try to get Ali down for the night anyway."

"Good night, Ali!" Danny smiled, keeping his voice soft and comforting.

"It was good to see you." Zoe gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You too." She gave Valerie a half hug before she turned to head back upstairs.

"She's so cute," Valerie said, smiling, but it turned into a frown when she noticed everyone staring at her. "What? I can't think babies are cute?"

"I guess it's just that you haven't really expressed liking babies that much to us," Tucker said. "But I guess we shouldn't have just assumed." He ducked his head, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"No, you shouldn't have." Valerie folded her arms. "But whatever. Sorry we can only stay for a little while."

Tucker shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I know you have busy lives. And there's plenty more opportunities to visit in the future. Oh!" He slapped a hand onto Danny's shoulder. "I'm being a bad host! Did you want anything to drink?"

Danny chuckled. "No, that's okay."

"Maybe you should at least offer to move this into the front room," Sam suggested with a nudge to Tucker's side. "So we can at least sit while we talk."

"Right. Of course!" Tucker led the way into the front room. "Everything's a little messy. Sorry about that. It's been a little crazy around here."

"Don't worry about it. Having a new baby to take care of can't be easy." Danny took a seat on the sofa, and Tucker dropped next to him on it. Sam and Valerie sat in the comfy looking chairs to sides of the sofa.

"So you were going to tell us about the thing that came up," Sam prompted.

"Right." Danny sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

"If you don't tell them, I will." Valerie sat back, hands resting on the arms of her chair as she crossed her legs. Danny could imagine her playing some kind of mob boss when she sat like that.

"I'm getting to it." Danny took a deep breath then looked from Tucker to Sam. "Dan's back."

"What?" Sam sat up, all tense lines.

"You're kidding right?" The color drained out of Tucker's face.

"It's fine." Danny held up his hands. "Well, I think it's fine now."

"We're talking about the evil you that tried to kill us so he can make sure his timeline came to exist," Sam pointed out. "How exactly are you saying him returning is fine?"

"Uh, yeah," Tucker's voice cracked, "I really don't want him trying to destroy the world like he did with his timeline."

"I wasn't happy about this either," Danny said, leaning back on the sofa. Exhaustion weighed down on him like a heavy blanket. "But he spent fourteen years in the Thermos. He's not the same Dan that went into the Thermos. And, well, Clockwork thinks he's safe to be out, and I think we can trust him."

"I want to feel reassured," Tucker winced, "but I don't."

"I'm more interested in why Clockwork thinks now, of all times, Dan should be freed from the Thermos." Sam landed her narrowed eyes on him.

"Whatever's coming, we can handle it," Danny assured her.

"Not quite a fan of his, but with Dan, I don't think anything stands a chance against the three of us," Valerie said.

"That may be true. But it couldn't hurt to have a couple of extra hands around to help."

"Sam, I appreciate the offer. But don't you have to get back to New York?" Danny frowned. "I can't ask you to just take off from work to come back to Amity Park. And Tucker has a new baby. I'm definitely not going to suggest he just leaves Zoe to care for Ali by herself."

"I was going to feel guilty about saying maybe I'd sit this one out." Tucker rubbed the back of his neck. "I love helping out with all the ghost hunting stuff, but I don't really want to leave my daughter right now."

"You don't have to feel guilty," Valerie said in a surprisingly comforting tone, and some of the tension in Tucker's shoulders relaxed. "Taking care of your daughter should be your top priority right now."

"Yeah, I don't want you to think you have to drop your life just to help me." Danny turned to Sam. "And that applies to you too. I know you probably had a hard enough time convincing your boss to let you come here to visit. I doubt they'd be happy if you took even more time off to come back to Amity Park."

Sam frowned, narrowing her eyes. Then she huffed. "Fine. You're right." She flopped back in the chair, throwing up her arms. "My boss would probably kill me if I took off anymore time. I'm supposed to be helping out on a big case right now."

"I just wanted to tell you both so you would know what's going on. I think Valerie and I have things handled. And for now, Dan doesn't seem to be a problem. But if anything comes up, I promise to tell you both." Danny glanced between his friends, neither of whom looked all that happy, but they didn't argue with him. "Good. Now," he turned to Tucker with a wide grin, "I want to hear about everything. Show me all those pictures of Ali."


	10. Chapter 10

"Sorry for the wait," the waitress said as she reached his table. "But here are your eggs. Hope you enjoy."

Dash looked from the book he was "reading" and offered her a smile. "Don't worry about it." He set his book aside as she placed to plate down in front of him. "Mm, this looks really good."

"One of our best selling breakfast plates." The waitress, Abigail according to her name tag, smiled proudly. She pulled out a pad from the white apron of her pale blue waitress uniform. "Is there anything else I can get you? Or will that be all for now?"

Dash looked over the plate then shook his head. "I think that's all for now. But," he reached out and tipped his coffee mug over slightly so he could peer inside, "maybe in a little while I'll need a refill."

Abigail bobbed her head. "Gotcha. I'll check back in a bit then." She turned around, her ponytail swishing behind her as she walked to another table.

Dash picked up his fork and dug into the large omelet. As he took a bite, he glanced out the window next to his table. Even though the eggs were good, they weren't the reason he picked this diner for breakfast. Across the street from the diner was the big building Kylie mentioned when he bumped into her. Right now, it was hidden behind tarps tied to the metal fencing surrounding the building. From what Abigail said during their chat while he was ordering his breakfast, construction had started on the building only a week or so ago.

Since his talk with Kylie, Dash wanted to check out what was going on with the building. Unfortunately, he couldn't actually see what they were doing over there. He kept glancing out the window, hoping to catch sight of someone entering or leaving the building, while he ate his eggs.

Right on cue, as he sat down the mug after his last sip of coffee, Abigail came by his table to give him a refill. Dash lifted his head, preparing to thank her, when something caught his attention. The door to the diner opened, and a man walked in, a scrawny man with long greasy hair. Dash recognized him. It was the same man he saw outside Mirage, the bar where he met his friends, and Fenton, for drinks. Abigail must have noticed his staring.

"Do you know Theo?" She cocked an eyebrow at him when he turned his gaze back to her.

"Ah, well, I wouldn't say I know him." Dash frowned, looking back over to the man as he approached one of the other waitresses. "But I saw him around recently."

Abigail looked like she was about to say something, her mouth opening, until shouting made her mouth snap shut. They both looked over to where Theo was talking with the other waitress.

"I'm not asking for much!" Theo yelled, calling attention from other customers in the diner. "Just fork over a few hundred and I'll go."

"I already told you," the waitress frowned, "I'm not giving you any money."

"Why are you being such a-"

"Don't!" The waitress said with such firmness Dash was shocked by it. She looked so timid at first, but standing there with that glare and her finger pointed in Theo's face, she was kind of intimidating. "Don't you even call me that. I'm not giving you money. Now leave before you get me in trouble."

Theo's mouth pressed thinned, his hands clenching tightly. His anger was building. "Why won't you just give me the money? I know you have it!"

"Theo is Brooke's younger brother," Abigail whispered to Dash as they watched the scene. Maybe she took note of the anger on Dash's face because next she added, "He wasn't always like that. He used to be a star baseball player at his high school. But an accident wrecked his shoulder. Being the pitcher, that kind of ruined his career."

Dash winced. "I guess I can see how that would be frustrating." His father had always pushed him toward a football career. Perhaps he was lucky to have chosen not to pursue that dream, instead of having it stolen from him by a tragic accident. "But that's no excuse to act this way toward his sister."

Abigail nodded with a grim look. "After the operation on his shoulder, he apparently turned to drugs for the pain."

Dash sighed inwardly. How many times had he heard a story like that? It seemed to happen far too often.

"Just give me the fucking money!" Theo shouted, grabbing hold of his sister's arm. He jerked hard enough that she ended up dropping the stack of plates she carried. They crashed on the floor, sending shards scattering across the tiled diner floor.

Dash was out of his seat before anyone could even react. He grabbed Theo, prying his hand away from Brooke's arm. Theo protested and smacked him, but Dash dragged him out of the diner. When Dash released his arm, Theo stumbled a few steps then whirled around on with fury in his eyes.

"Stop making trouble for your sister."

"Fuck you!" Theo spat out. "You don't know shit."

"She already told you she wasn't going to give you money." Dash folded his arms, remaining firmly planted in front of the door. "So you're going to leave her alone and never bother her at work again. Just because you've made a mess of your own life doesn't mean you have ruin her life too."

The door opened behind him. Dash tossed a quick glance over his shoulder to see Brooke had followed them outside.

"Are you giving me the money?" Theo asked.

"You really didn't have to do that," Brooke said to Dash, worry reflecting in her blue eyes. She didn't even look at Theo.

"You didn't get hurt by the plates or anything, did you?" Dash glanced down, but he didn't see any marks on her legs.

"Hey!" Theo shouted.

Brooke shook her head. "And some of the other waitresses are cleaning up the mess. I just wanted to say thanks."

Dash shrugged. He didn't think it was a big deal. He was just doing what he thought anyone should do in that situation. In his head, he could hear Kwan and Valerie's voices teasing him about Phantom rubbing off on him. Maybe that was true. And maybe having been a bully, he couldn't stand to see people treating other people that way anymore.

"Don't ignore me!" Theo stormed toward them.

Dash put out a hand to stop him. His eyes narrowed darkly. "You don't seem to be listening. She doesn't have money to give you. Maybe you should seek out some help, check into a rehab center. That might not be advice you want to hear, but it's probably the best thing for you right now." From the way Brooke winced, Dash guessed intervention wasn't even a thought in her family's mind. It wasn't the easiest decision to make. He knew that. His mother and he couldn't get up the courage when it came to his father. Things hadn't turned out the best in the end.

"Why don't you butt out? This isn't any of your business."

"I'm giving you a choice right now. You can either leave or," Dash dug his phone out of his pocket, "I can call the cops."

Theo snorted. "You can't hang around here all the time."

Brooke snatched the phone from Dash's hand. "No, but I can call the cops on you myself."

Theo ground his teeth. "Fine. Whatever. I'll get the money from someone else." He turned and stormed off down the street.

When he was far enough away, Brooke released a heavy sigh. "I'm really sorry about all of that."

"You really don't have apologize about anything." Dash took his phone back when she held it out to him. "I hope he'll get the help he needs."

Brooke nodded, her mouth pulling downward. "I hope so too." But there was doubt in her eyes.

"It's always hardest on those around the person. Theo," Dash glanced down the street, "is being selfish. He doesn't even care about how his actions are affecting those around him, those who love him." He turned back to Brooke. "Staying strong and not enabling is really the best thing you can do for him."

Brooke bobbed her head with a shaky breath. "It's just been really hard. Oh!" She bowed her head, her cheeks growing pink. "Uh, as an apology, your breakfast is on the house."

"You don't have to do that."

"This never should have come up at work, and it definitely shouldn't have interrupted anyone's meal."

Dash would have argued more, but the determination in her eyes told him he would be fighting a losing battle. "Okay." He shrugged.

Brooke smiled then held the door open for him. Dash returned to his table, ignoring the glances from the other customers. He slid into his seat and picked up the fresh mug of coffee. As he took a sip, he stared out the window. Nothing had happened with the building across the street during that interruption. By the time he finished off his breakfast and coffee, he still hadn't spotted anything interesting. He sighed heavily as Abigail stopped by his table again.

"Did you need anything else?"

Dash shook his head. "No, I'm stuffed." He looked up with a smile as he pulled out his wallet. "I know Brooke said it was on the house," he took out two twenties and set them on the table, "but consider this a tip."

Abigail's eyes grew wide. "Oh, you don't-" But she cut herself short when Dash held up a hand.

"I want to." Dash stood up, collecting his things from the table. "My mind's made up on that."

Abigail's mouth hung open for a moment. Then she closed it, offering a smile. "Then thank you for the generous tip."

Dash returned the smile then said his goodbyes before exiting the diner. After one more glance at the building across the street, he heaved a sigh as he walked away. He would have to check another day to see if anything happened with the building. For all he knew, nothing of consequence was being done with the building. Maybe the new owner planned to turn it into some boring office building. That would hardly be news worthy.

His phone vibrating called him away from his thoughts. Dash pulled out his phone and checked the new alert he received. Someone spotted Phantom. If he hurried, he might be able to make it over to the area before he left. Dash doubted he would get lucky and convince Phantom to give him an interview, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying. Pocketing his phone, he jogged down the street. A cab might be faster, but the cabs here were notorious for never being around when he needed to flag one down.

Fifteen minutes later, Dash arrived at the location mentioned in the alert. He was glad he kept up with running, though his breakfast was making him regret the jog. He turned his gaze toward the sky, searching for Phantom and hoping it wasn't too late. For a minute, there was no sign of Phantom's presence, other than a few other people hanging around outside with their phones at the ready to snap pictures.

Then a flash of green lit up the sky. Dash jerked his head around to the source of the flash. There Phantom floated above the buildings. Dash tracked his movement as Phantom soared forward and clashed with another ghost. He squinted, carefully watching the fight.

_Is that the same ghost?_ Dash frowned when he recognized who Phantom was fighting. But the fight seemed different this time. He didn't see the same level of anger in Phantom that he had in the last fight. His brow furrowed. The way they moved, it almost made the fight seem more like a spar. But that didn't make any sense. Phantom was furious the last time he saw that ghost.

Then the fight moved beyond the buildings, and Dash lost sight of them. He jogged across the street and through an alley to the next street over. His gaze darted around, but he didn't see either Phantom or the mystery ghost. He sighed. Just his luck! He got there just in time to catch the tail end of the battle then Phantom immediately disappeared after catching the other ghost.

"Why the long face?"

Dash jumped with a jolt, and maybe a yelp. A manly yelp! He turned around with a hand to his chest. "You have to stop doing that!"

Phantom grinned. "You're the one that keeps spying on me."

"Yeah, but I don't sneak up on you and surprise you."

There was a gleam of amusement in Phantom's eyes. "And what do you want this time?" He folded his arms. "Still looking for that interview?"

"If you know the answer, why ask?" Dash flicked his gaze over Phantom. He saw no bruises or cuts. Phantom barely looked like he was in a fight only moments ago. Maybe that was part of being a ghost: his injuries healed faster than a human could heal. But Dash remembered plenty of fights that ended with Phantom bleeding green, his suit torn, his lip split, one eye practically swollen shut. After watching their other fight, Dash expected to see Phantom a bit more beaten up. "I guess," he shoved his hands into his pockets, "you got that ghost in the end." He glanced around the street. "And before he was able to do any damage to the town."

Phantom nodded, turning his head. "Yup. Now that he's dealt with, you can sleep easy."

"Oh, good. Because I was staying up all night worrying about it." Dash almost feared the snarky response would turn Phantom off, drive him to fly off without another word, but Phantom snorted out a chuckle.

"Right. I can tell by those circles under your eyes."

"So about that interview-"

"Oh, what's that?" Phantom placed a hand to his ear like he was listening hard to something only he could hear. "Possibly another ghost causing trouble. I better go-"

"Wait!" Dash grabbed Phantom's arm. "I just want to ask a few questions. It wouldn't take that much time."

Phantom huffed out a sigh as he turned back to Dash. "I'm really not looking for fame. I do this to keep people safe from threats they can't fight themselves. Nothing more."

"Says the local hero who takes photos with tourists?" Dash lifted an eyebrow.

Phantom shrugged. "I wouldn't want to be rude."

"Right." Dash bobbed his head. "Look. You've been a hero here for years. Everyone just wants a little insight into who you are and why you decided to protect us."

"That won't make a very interesting story." Phantom phased his arm through Dash's grip.

"Can't you at least consider an interview?"

After a moment, Phantom breathed out heavily. "You really are determined to wear me down."

Dash hunched his shoulders. "I'm not one to give up easy."

Phantom nearly rolled in his eyes in a look that read, "Yeah, yeah, I've heard that before." He floated a few inches off the ground but didn't immediately fly off. "I suppose I could think about it." He snapped his hand at Dash, pointing a finger. "But don't think of that as a guarantee. I still don't really like the idea of giving an interview." As he flew upward, he faded from sight.

Dash grinned widely. Phantom considering an interview was definitely a step forward. Maybe with a few more attempts, he could convince Phantom to finally sit down with him and answer a few questions. Dash ducked his head, raking a hand through his hair. If he ever got that yes, though, he would have to actually narrow down all the questions he had for Phantom. Maybe he would work on that while waiting until it was time to head over to Kwan's place. He walked down the street, in a much better mood about the day.


	11. Chapter 11

"I'm so bored!" Dan said, and Danny rolled his eyes at his dramatics.

"And here I thought you were actually becoming someone tolerable." Danny finished tying his shoes then sat up straight. "You wanted to be free of me babysitting you. Aren't there things you want to go out and do?" He lifted an eyebrow as Dan huffed.

"You said staking out that boxing gym and waiting for Kwan to show up would be 'too stalkery' and I shouldn't do it." Dan glowered. "And yes, I get it. That would be a bit on the stalker side. But it's not like I have his number. I can't just call him up."

Danny stood up. "I would say that's your own fault for not asking for his number, but, well, it's not your fault you don't have a phone." He bit his lip as Dan continued to glare at him. "If you want, we can go and pick up a phone for you. Then next time you meet Kwan, you can actually exchange numbers with him."

Dan grinned, but it was short lived, quickly shifting into a frown. "But then there's still the problem of how I can 'bump into him' again without it coming off as 'stalking.'"

"This is Amity Park." Danny shrugged. "You're likely to run into him at some point without even trying."

"Yeah, but." Dan stared at him with a look like he expected Danny to read exactly what was on his mind.

"But?" Danny repeated, his brow furrowing.

Dan waved his hands at him. "Dash just hung out with you. All night. You could easily get him to talk to Kwan to call me."

"I," Danny winced, "don't think that's a good idea." He didn't even know where exactly he stood with Dash after that night. They got along, but that didn't make them best friends. Whatever their relationship was now, he didn't think Dan's plan would help it. "And anyway, we would need a way to explain just how I know you."

Danny walked into the kitchen and headed straight for the refrigerator to look for something to have as a quick breakfast. After the other night, Danny expected Dan to leave the house more. Instead, when he came home from work, there Dan was lazing around the house and eager to go on a patrol. Danny guessed it was hard to come out of the Thermos fourteen years later after the world had changed so much. Dan changed a lot in that time too, to Danny's great surprise. At first, he was hesitant to leave Dan unsupervised, but so far, he hadn't done anything remotely destructive, with the exception of that first encounter.

The phone rang while he was still deciding on something to eat. After closing the refrigerator, Danny grabbed his phone out of his pocket.

"Hi?" Danny frowned as he answered the phone. He didn't recognize the number.

"Hey, Danny!" Kwan greeted, sounding a little too chipper for the morning when Danny was still contemplating crawling back into bed.

"Uh, hey, Kwan." His brow creased, and a second later, Danny spotted Dan poking his head through the wall. He shot a glare then turned his back to Dan. "What's up?" He rubbed at his forehead. First Dash visited him, and now Kwan was calling him. This was a turn he never saw his life taking.

"I know it's kind of last minute to ask, but I was planning kind of a movie night tonight," Kwan said. "I guess you could also say it's like a house warming thing."

"Oh!" Danny swatted at Dan when he suddenly popped up in front of him. Dan kept waving at him, trying to get his attention, but Danny did his best to ignore him. "Uh, yeah, sure. That sounds great. Should I, like, bring anything?"

"I... Well, I guess people usually do bring something to a house warming." Kwan hummed like he was thinking. "It's not absolutely necessary, and I certainly won't get mad if you don't, but if you really want to, anything is fine. Snacks, drinks, anything like that. I'll have food, so don't think you have to get something fancy."

Danny chuckled. "Okay. Just tell me when and where." He grabbed the pad of paper out of the drawer and jotted down the address Kwan gave him. "I'll see you at six then." After saying their goodbyes, he hung up the phone.

"What was that about?"

"Gah!" Danny pressed a hand to his chest. "Do you mind not hovering like that?"

"Why did Kwan call you?"

Danny sighed, rubbing at his head. "He's just having people over tonight. And no," he stared firmly at Dan, who smiled and pointed at himself, "you're not coming."

"How is this not a perfect opportunity?" Dan held out his arms. "You bring me along, and, 'oh, what? You know Danny too? What a coincidence!' It's perfect."

Danny shook his head. "Except I'm not going to rudely invite someone over to Kwan's place."

Dan slowly lowered his arms, frowning the whole time. "Why do you hate me?"

"How much time you got?" Danny grinned impishly, which did nothing to improve Dan's mood. "Look. He invited me over. I guess we're friends now?" He shrugged. Kwan was always pretty friendly in high school, so maybe he did think of Danny as a friend at this point. "Then I can just invite him over to hang out sometime." He frowned, placing a hand to his chin. "But would it be weird to invite just him?"

"Hey, if you want to hang out with Dash, you don't need to use me as an excuse."

"What?" Danny snapped his head back up to Dan. "Who said anything about Dash?"

"Ah!" With a big grin, Dan moved in closer and poked at Danny's cheek. "You're blushing."

Danny slapped the hand away. "I am not!"

"You don't have to lie to me." Dan's grin grew even wider. "Remember? I was you. I know what kind of thoughts you had at fourteen."

Now Danny really was blushing. "I didn't-" He scowled at Dan's maniacal smirk. "Oh, shut up!" Whatever thoughts he might have had back in high school weren't thoughts he wanted to dwell on right now.

Danny shoved past Dan to grab a power bar from the cabinet. Dan might not be destroying the town, but he was certainly destroying Danny's patience. Taking a large bite from the power bar, he pondered how to better occupy Dan's attention. He almost laughed when he thought about Dan starting up some kind of ghost fight club. The idea was amusing, but it could help Dan with his boredom and give him an outlet for his anger and violence.

"Okay. I have a plan for today." Danny finished off the power bar and threw the wrapper away in the trash can.

"A plan?" Dan eyed him as he folded his arms. "What kind of plan?"

"You're here to help me with some threat, and you like fighting. So we should train together." Danny shifted to his ghost form. "Although," he rubbed his chin, "the lab is a bit small." He looked toward the front of the house. "I guess we can just fight around town. But," he snapped his gaze back to Dan and held up a finger in his face, "no destruction of any kind. This is like when you sparred with Kwan."

"Yeah, I get what sparring is." Dan rolled his eyes. "You changed your look."

Danny dropped his gaze to look himself over. "Uh, yeah, a couple of years ago." He shrugged as he lifted his head. "You're just now noticing?"

"I really wasn't paying attention before." Dan pulled at the front of his costume. "Maybe I should give myself a bit of a makeover."

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "Wait. But not yet!" He held out a hand, and Dan lifted an eyebrow. "Something in town is the next big threat we have to face. Whatever it is, it might already be here. If that's true, it might be watching. Stay in your current look. We'll play the spar out like you're still evil. If we're being watched, it might be better to let them think we're still enemies. And don't use any special attacks you might have come up with."

"Because keeping to basic attacks prevents them from observing everything we're capable of."

Danny grinned. "Exactly."

Dan huffed. "Not like I cared about changing my look anyway."

"You can still change your look. Eventually." Danny winced. "I just don't want to give this threat any advantages."

Dan nodded, but he seemed to be thinking, perhaps contemplating ideas for a new look. "I guess time to go make you look good. Am I going to get sucked into the Thermos at the end of this?"

That thought hit Danny hard with the guilt. Dan was trying to be a better ghost. Danny didn't want to subject Dan to more trauma if there was no good reason for it. Shaking his head, he said, "We can fake it. At the end of the fight, we'll move out of sight. You can disappear and head home, and I'll pretend like I caught you."

Dan's shoulders relaxed. Danny never imagined he would feel sorry for Dan, but seeing that wash of relief come over Dan was enough to make Danny feel bad about ever threatening to stuff him back in the Thermos.

"All right. Then let's go!"

Danny shifted to invisible then left the house, flying up and out through the roof. He led the way, thankful when he could sense Dan trailing behind him. Once they were well into the downtown area, and far away from his house, Danny signaled for Dan to make his appearance. Dan seemed all too gleeful when he turned visible with a loud booming laugh that drew the attention of civilians on the street below. Sighing, Danny pinched the bridge of nose, regretting this whole idea already as Dan played the villain he was fourteen years ago. After a few minutes of letting Dan rampage and frighten people, Danny made his grand appearance, sending an ecto blast at Dan that sent him barreling toward a building. Dan managed to stop himself and correct his flight before he crashed into the side of the building. From the maniacal grin, Dan was definitely enjoying this. A ghost fight club was sounding like an even better idea to Danny.

They danced around, tossing ecto blasts and exchanging punches. Below them, people responded to the show with gasps when Dan landed a hard punch on him or cheers when Danny blasted Dan away. It wasn't too long into their sparring when Danny noticed the shock of familiar blond hair. He shook his head, not surprised to see Dash arrive on scene. Whenever Phantom fought ghosts, Dash inevitably showed up too.

When they had sparred for long enough, Danny pushed the fight out of sight, tackling Dan to the roof of one of the tall buildings.

"I'll see you back at home," Danny said. "There's something I have to take care of first."

"Right." Dan grinned. "And that something wouldn't happen to be Dash, would it?"

Danny groaned, his cheeks growing warm. "Will you just get out of here already?"

Dan disappeared as he chuckled. Once he felt Dan's presence flying away, Danny sighed. He checked for Dash and was happy to note he had moved away from the crowd watching the fight. He raked a hand through his white hair. Was this really a good idea? He talked to Dash plenty of times as Phantom, but it typically involved Dash trying to get him to do an interview. So why did he keep doing this? Shaking his head, Danny dropped down to where Dash stood looking around for him.

"Why the long face?" Danny bit the inside of his cheek, struggling to keep his face neutral, but the way Dash jumped and let out a yelp was far too amusing. The grin won out when Dash turned around and snapped at him.

As just Danny, he didn't often get to see Dash thrown off his game. Dash still had that confident air about him, even when talking about an embarrassing college story. That night Dash came over, Danny never imagined being able to speak so easily with Dash as himself. He actually expected more punching, but like with Dan, he needed to stop seeing Dash as the person he was in high school. Danny could see that he had grown.

But, Danny sighed heavily, it didn't erase the bullying Dash did. They hadn't really touched the topic either time they had the chance to talk alone. If they kept hanging out, Danny knew that conversation would eventually have to happen.

Dash hunched his shoulders. "I'm not one to give up easy."

It was hard not to roll his eyes as he rose up to float a few inches off the ground. Danny already heard Dash say that before. "I suppose," he was already slapping himself mentally, "I could think about it." He pointed a finger at Dash. "But don't think of that as a guarantee. I still don't really like the idea of giving an interview." Without waiting to give Dash the chance to respond, Danny flew upward, shifting to invisible as he rose.

_Why did I do that?_ Danny screamed internally, smacking a hand to his forehead as he flew home. He always stuck to a strict no when it came to interviews. Why did he just give Dash a maybe? Was he really considering giving Dash an interview? _No_ , he shook his head, _I am not letting Dash break me down that easily!_

When he arrived at home, he touched down in his room and, with a sigh, shifted back to human. He looked up as he took a step forward. His heart nearly jumped into his throat. He slapped a hand over his chest, feeling the hammering of his heart. Now he understood how Dash felt whenever he sneaked up on him.

"What are you doing?" He glared at Dan, leaning up against the doorway.

Dan grinned, showing up sharp fangs. "Have a nice little date there?"

Danny groaned and shoved past Dan as he walked out of his room. "There's nothing going on with me and Dash." He folded his arms. "We had a lot of eyes on us during that fight."

"Sure. Change the subject."

Danny ignored him. "But I didn't sense any ghostly presence near enough to watch the fight."

Dan growled but eventually huffed. "And if the threat is human?"

Danny glanced at him. "Well, again, there were a lot of eyes. None of them really struck me as someone who might pose a threat."

"Right." Dan frowned. "Definitely no Guys in White."

Danny snorted. "The Guys in White haven't been a threat in years."

Dan shot a glare at him. "Sorry I'm not up to date on potential human threats."

"I wasn't-" Danny shook his head. "I didn't mean for it to sound like I was dismissing your input."

Dan raised a hand. "No, I get it. The Guys in White were always kind of a joke. But I guess I was just throwing them out there to cross them off the list."

"Which leaves us still at square one." Danny sighed, raking a hand through his hair. They weren't going to make any headway on pinpointing the threat until they got more information. "Well, I'm going to take a shower then maybe we can think about getting you that phone. After that, I'm going to spend the rest of the day relaxing until I have to go to Kwan's."

"Given any thought to explaining how we know each other to him?"

Danny paused halfway down the hall. For a moment, he contemplated then turned back to Dan. "How do you feel about Wisconsin?"

Dan's brow creased. "I did already tell Kwan I came from Wisconsin."

Danny nodded then grinned. "Perfect! I can just say I met you in college. And you're staying with me while you visit."

"You went to the same college?" Dan smirked.

"Shut up. It works out, doesn't it?" Danny took a step then stopped again. "Oh, and if you're still bored, maybe you should go talk with Ember and Skulker. They could help you with setting up a fight club of sorts in the Ghost Zone. It'll be like sparring with Kwan. You fight, but you're not aiming to permanently hurt anyone."

"I get the concept. You don't have to keep explaining it." Dan glared, but there was a curious glint in his red eyes. "The idea isn't bad though." Then he barked out a laugh. "You sure have gotten pretty friendly with ghosts you used to fight."

Danny shrugged. "My friends and Val are great. I can be myself around them. But as you've probably noticed, they all have their own lives too. Sometimes, it's nice to go into the Ghost Zone where I don't have to pretend all the time." He turned away, scratching at the back of his head.

"Makes sense."

Danny snapped his head back toward Dan.

"What?" Dan bristled. "Half of you is ghost. It's not that surprising that you would feel comfortable around other ghosts."

"Yeah," Danny looked away again, "I guess so." He always thought maybe he was a little strange - or stranger than he already was. He didn't make very many friends at college, which made him feel rather isolated throughout the whole experience. He dated some, but none of his relationships lasted long. "And now I'm really going to hit the shower." He walked down the hall to the bathroom.


	12. Chapter 12

Kwan tasted the food he was cooking and frowned. Before he could think of what was off about it, someone knocked on the door. He set the tasting spoon down on the counter then headed out of the kitchen. When he opened the door, it didn't surprise him to find Dash waiting in the hall.

"Always have to be first." Kwan smiled fondly.

Dash shrugged. "My day was fairly uneventful, and I thought maybe you could use a hand with cooking or something."

Kwan's gaze dipped to Dash's hand and the plastic bag he carried. "Beer?"

"And soda." Dash huffed.

Kwan's mouth twitched. "Right. Well, I don't think I need a hand with cooking." He stepped aside to let Dash enter his apartment. "But you can get some chips and dip ready, if you like." After closing the door, he led the way to the kitchen.

Dash breathed in deeply when they entered the kitchen. "It always smells good when you're cooking." He set the plastic bag onto the counter.

Kwan rolled his eyes. "Please tell me you haven't been living on takeout since high school."

Dash gasped, slapping a hand to his chest. "You think I would do that?"

"Yes," Kwan narrowed his eyes, "you would."

"Yeah." Dash ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I have been working on cooking more. But sometimes I just get wrapped up working on a story, and sometimes it's just easier to grab something already made. But," he held up a finger, "it's not all gross, greasy junk food."

Kwan eyed him like he didn't quite believe him, but he knew Dash wasn't an idiot when it came to eating healthy and nutritiously. They both had years of training for football to fall back on to keep in good shape. But they both enjoyed a good Nasty Burger every now and again. He was fairly certain he didn't want to know too much about what went into making burgers at Nasty Burger, though.

"Chips are in the cabinet over there," Kwan waved in the general direction of the cabinet as he turned around to check on what he was cooking. "And there's dip in the fridge."

Dash found the bowls then set to work filling them with chips and getting out the dip. "I said today wasn't eventful, but something good did happen."

Kwan glanced over his shoulder. "Oh? What happened?"

"Phantom was fighting with that ghost again." Dash took one of the chips and scooped up some of the dip. "I still haven't figured out anything about that ghost."

"If it's a ghost Phantom has some sort of beef with, then there has to be something about him somewhere." Kwan sprinkled in a few more spices and gave it another stir.

"Nothing in any of the news articles or archives that I could find."

Kwan's brow furrowed. "So what was good about this fight?"

Dash ate the chip with a loud crunch. "After the fight, I got to talk with Phantom." He grinned widely. "He actually said he would consider doing an interview. It's a small step and not a guarantee, but I think it won't be long before I finally get him to say yes."

"I guess if you get that interview, you can just ask him about that time he disappeared from Amity Park." Kwan tasted the food then nodded in satisfaction. "But you could always ask Danny for his opinion if you don't want to wait. Speaking of," he winced, daring to glance over at Dash, "I invited him to join us."

"Why are you looking like?" Dash frowned, a deep line forming between his eyebrows.

"Uh, well, I mean, I know you got along with him the other day when you went to his house, but," he shrugged, "I guess I just wasn't sure if you would be mad."

Dash shook his head. "It is your apartment. You're allowed to invite over whomever you like."

Someone knocked on the door.

"I'll get it." Dash left the kitchen before Kwan could object.

Kwan smiled softly before turning back to the stove. He really missed having his friends around him. Why did he stay away for so long? He reached up and rubbed at his eye. It stung out of nowhere.

"I would have said speak of the devil," Dash said as he returned to the kitchen, "but it was just Valerie."

Kwan snapped his hand away from his eye. "Oh, hey, Val!" He grinned as he turned to greet her.

"Hey, Kwan!" Valerie then elbowed Dash hard in the ribs. "What's with the 'it was just Valerie?'" She folded her arms as she narrowed her eyes.

Dash held up his hands. "Sorry. We were just talking before you arrived, and Kwan mentioned Fenton was coming. Then you knocked on the door, and it just felt like coincidence if it turned out to be Fenton." He winced as he not so subtly rubbed at his side. "Kind of like a 'speak their name, and they'll come' kind of thing."

Valerie rolled her eyes. "When did you get so superstitious?"

"I'm not superstitious."

"Uh huh." Valerie smirked. "But I am surprised you're able to get along with Danny."

"I'm not that awful." Dash frowned. "Not anymore, anyway."

"And we're so happy you grew into a mature person." Valerie bumped her shoulder into him.

"Yeah, yeah." Dash rolled his eyes. "So did you ever meet up with that guy again?" He reached into the bowl to grab another chip.

"Guy?" Valerie glanced between them. "What guy?"

Dash grinned. "Kwan met a hunky guy." He popped the chip into his mouth with a crunch.

Kwan shot him a glare as his cheeks heated. "I only met him once, and we didn't even exchange numbers or anything."

"Are you going to tell me about him?" Valerie asked. "Or do I need to interrogate you for details?"

"No, no!" Kwan waved his hands in front of him, sweat prickling on his neck. Valerie could be downright terrifying when it came to getting information out of someone. "It was just one time." He shrugged. "So it's not like I know a whole lot about him. There were maybe some red flags about him, but he was honest about them. And it sounds like he's working on improving himself."

Valerie's eyes narrowed. "Red flags?"

"Hey," Dash cut in, "we both know Kwan's smart enough not to get involved with someone if he thinks it's going to be a bad relationship. He sees the red flags, and he's being cautious. Too bad he didn't give you anything helpful to find him. Just the name Dan isn't a lot to go on."

"Dan-"

_Knock! Knock!_

"Ah, that's probably Danny." Kwan almost breathed a sigh of relief for the distraction.

"I'll get it." Valerie stalked out of the kitchen.

"Did that seem weird to you?" Kwan frowned.

"You don't think there's anything going on between them, do you?"

"What?" Kwan snapped his head toward Dash, his mouth hanging open.

"It's not that crazy!" Dash argued. "They did date in high school."

Kwan rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "You're ridiculous. There hasn't been anything romantic between Valerie and Danny for ages." He grinned as he stepped closer. "Are you perhaps," he poked Dash's cheek, "jealous?"

"Pfft!" Dash snorted. "Jealous of what exactly?

Kwan cocked an eyebrow. There was definitely a hint of color on Dash's cheeks. "You went over to his house and spent the night talking to him. You even completely forgot about the whole reason you went there in the first place. Are you really going to tell me there's zero interest there?"

"Now you're sounding ridiculous." Dash huffed, folding his arms.

Valerie walked back in with Danny trailing behind her. He rubbed at his ear with his head bowed like a scolded child. Frowning, Kwan wondered what they talked about while they were out of the room.

"Is every-"

"I brought some cupcakes," Danny announced, grinning as he held up the bag in his hand. "I hope that's okay." He looked at the bag with a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. "I wasn't really sure what would be good to bring."

"Cupcakes sound great." Kwan smiled. "You all, uh, don't have to crowd in here. It shouldn't be too much longer before I finish cooking, so if you want, you can go sit. There's some chips and dip. And Dash brought some beer and soda."

"Smells pretty good," Danny said, leaning a little closer to the stove as he sniffed.

"Old family recipe." Kwan laughed. "Well, maybe not, but my mom always likes to call it an old family recipe." He shrugged, checking on it again to make sure it wasn't burning. "All I know is that it's good."

"I can attest to that," Dash said, grabbing the bowls of chips and dip.

Valerie chuckled. "I think we ate a lot of it over the years. It feels like every time we went over to your house for dinner, we'd have it." She picked up the bag Dash brought with him. "But I guess we should get out of the master chef's hair and let him do his work." She pulled Danny along with her as she left the kitchen with Dash following them.

Once he was alone, Kwan released his breath. So far, everything seemed to be going all right. Calling Danny to join them was a last minute idea. He wasn't sure if Danny would say yes when he picked up the phone to call him. And he didn't know if Dash would be angry, since this was supposed to be a friend get together.

Kwan smiled as he stirred the pot. Dash might be denying it, but Kwan wouldn't be surprised if Dash was developing some kind of feeling toward Danny. Dash was stubborn, and sometimes an idiot when it came to his feelings.

When everything was ready, Kwan turned off the stove burner then grabbed some plates from the cabinet. He served up everything on the plates, a pile of rice coated in a curry sauce. He called the others in to grab their plates then joined them in the other room to sit down to eat.

"Sorry my place is a bit small." Kwan bowed his head. He could practically feel Dash rolling his eyes next to him.

"Small doesn't mean bad." Valerie shrugged as she scooped up a large spoonful of the curry rice.

"Yeah!" Danny agreed. "I think my place was even smaller than this when I was going to college. And I had to put up with a roommate." He made a face, the memories perhaps not overwhelmingly pleasant.

"Hopefully not someone like your ex," Dash mumbled, and Kwan shot him a confused glance.

"Oh no." Danny shook his head. "This guy might have been a pain in the neck, but he wasn't _that_ bad. Plus, I never had any kind of relationship with him other than roommate."

Valerie snorted into her drink.

Kwan's brow furrowed deeply. He felt like he was missing something vital about this conversation. "Ex?" He glanced around at them.

"Let's just say," Danny said with a grimace that clearly read he didn't want to dwell too long on the topic, "he started out nice but eventually showed his true colors. They weren't pretty."

Kwan nodded slowly. "I'll take your word on it." He didn't want to press it and make Danny uncomfortable.

"So did you have a plan for tonight?" Dash took a swig from his beer. "Other than dinner?"

"Um," Kwan's cheeks heated, "I thought maybe a movie night?" He bit his lip as he looked at them. It sounded lame out loud.

"It feels like forever since I've kicked back and relaxed to watch movies. I hope you picked out some good ones," Valerie said.

Danny laughed. "I know what you mean. I usually spend my night reviewing notes for projects at work."

A foot kicked him under the table, and Kwan glanced over to catch Dash's eye. Dash grinned, and Kwan relaxed. Why was he getting so worked up over this? Of course his friends weren't going to mock him, even if his idea was lame. But movie night brought back his memories from high school. It had been a long time since he had a night like this with his friends. Maybe he just wanted to recapture the old days, but a movie night seemed like a nice, casual idea with no pressure. He nudged Dash's foot back, thankful for his friends.

"So what have you been doing since you got back?" Dash asked between bites of the curry rice.

"Oh yeah," Valerie said, "you've never said. Do you already have a job?"

"Uh, yeah." Kwan pushed around what was left on his plate. "I'm working at," he mumbled, "my parents' restaurant." The deep lines in Danny's brow spoke of his confusion.

"What?" Dash stiffened, his blue eyes filling with concern.

Valerie frowned. "Is that," she hesitated, "okay?"

"It's fine!" Kwan grinned, but his friends didn't seem to be buying it. "It's only temporary anyway. I've been looking around for better options."

"You could always get a job at Axiom Labs," Valerie suggested.

"Yeah!" Danny perked up. "Maybe we could even end up working on some projects together." He scratched at a pink cheek. "Um, that is, depending on what kind of work you do."

Kwan shook his head. "Thanks. But right now, I'm just kind of-" He shrugged, not sure how to explain it. "I think I kind of burned out at my last job. So I was thinking I'd look for something a little less stressful. At least, for a while."

"I don't know," Dash's brow furrowed, "that working for your parents is less stressful."

Kwan laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right. But it won't be for long. Hopefully."

"Well, if you ever seriously need a job," Valerie gave him a serious look, "you can always ask me for one."

"I appreciate that." Kwan smiled fondly. "So are you ready to watch some movies? I got a couple of different ones, if you want to pick." He got up and got the stack of DVDs he bought recently, bringing them back over to the table where they ate. As the others looked them over and debated which movie to watch first, Kwan bit back a laugh. Seattle had felt incredibly lonely, but he was only just realizing how alone he had felt there. His co-workers were just that, co-workers, and he always felt too exhausted after work to even think about going out anywhere to meet people. He was happy to be back among friends again.


	13. Chapter 13

Dan sat on the table in the laboratory. Danny made good on his promise and bought him a phone before he left to head over to Kwan's place. Dan was still a bit grumpy that he couldn't convince Danny to bring him along.

"I can't just invite people to his place," Dan said, mimicking Danny. Maybe Danny had a point, but it didn't make him feel any better about being left behind. Grumbling, Dan poked at the phone's screen. He had memories of phones from before he became a smash up of Danny and Vlad's ghost halves. But he hadn't used one in over two decades, and cell phones had changed a lot since then.

Danny, at least, showed him a few things before leaving. There were so many different kinds of apps and games to pick from, but after twenty minutes of playing a match three game, he nearly threw the phone at a wall. He swore the game was programmed to make him lose after a minute on each round. Danny added his and Valerie's numbers into the phone, but Dan was pretty sure neither of them wanted him bothering them while hanging out with Kwan.

"Why can't something happen already?" Dan shouted at the phone, giving it a shake. He didn't even sense any kind of ghostly activity happening in town to give him the excuse to fight something. Being "good" was frustrating. How could Danny stand living like this? Maybe having a job, as boring as his job looked, helped. Dan frowned. Maybe he should really consider that ghost fighting club idea Danny suggested. It would give him the ability to get rid of this pent up frustration and need to punch something without doing something bad.

The phone vibrated in his hand. Dan nearly chucked it across the laboratory.

"Who would-" Dan frowned as he hit to accept the call. "I haven't done anything destructive. You really don't need to check in on me. I thought you-"

"You met Kwan!"

Dan winced at the anger in Valerie's voice. Now he was happy he wasn't anywhere near Kwan's place. Valerie sounded like she would do a whole lot worse than lock him up in the Thermos for decades. "Ah, so Danny told you."

"No," Valerie growled, "Kwan was talking about some guy he liked. And from that, I figured it had to be you."

"Val, it's not-"

"Shut up, Danny! I'm still mad you didn't say anything about this."

Danny sighed. "You're right. I probably should have. But it seems like Dan really likes Kwan too. As weird as that is to say."

"Again, have you seen his ass?" Dan asked.

"Yeah, we know. He has a great butt." Danny sighed. "You're going to burst a vein like that."

"I get that you're trying to trust him," Val said, her voice slow and controlled, "but I don't trust him not to hurt Kwan."

"I'm not going to hurt him," Dan promised in his most sincere voice. It sounded weird to him, but that was probably because he rarely, if ever, used it. "I like him. I want to get to know more about him. It was really fun hanging out with him. I haven't experienced anything like this since, well, since I was just Danny. I know I still have a lot shit to work through, but I _am_ trying to work through it."

"No one's perfect," Danny said, and Dan could hear the wince in his voice. Valerie must have given him a withering glare. "Dan hasn't done any harm to anyone, other than me, and hasn't destroyed anything, other than the Portal door, since he got here. Can't you maybe let them try things out?"

"He's a ghost. How do you think Kwan's going to react when he finds out?"

"I-" Danny hesitated. "I don't know. But isn't that for Kwan to decide?"

"I don't like this."

"Look. I was thinking I'd invite Kwan over to my place next weekend, if he has work off. Then you can see how the two of them are together for yourself."

"Ugh! Fine," Valerie relented in a grumble. "But I swear, Dan, I will be watching you like a hawk. If I see anything I don't like, I'm going to kick your ass."

"I already promised I wasn't going to hurt him."

"Are you calm enough to go in now?" Danny asked, trying to be gentle. "We probably shouldn't leave them wondering what's taking so long."

"Yeah, yeah." Valerie sighed. "But I wasn't going to be able to sit through any of this without getting that off my chest."

"If it helps at all, I haven't seen Kwan since that night," Dan said, though that fact didn't make him happy. "As Danny so kindly explained, staking out his apartment and the boxing gym to just 'happen to run into him' again is creepy, and I certainly don't want Kwan to think I'm some kind of stalker."

"Was that really what you planned on doing?"

Dan cringed at the cold tone of Valerie's voice. "Well, to be fair, I couldn't think of another way to meet him again since I couldn't give him my number. Since we only just got this phone for me today. That's why Danny has that whole idea of inviting Kwan over so I can meet him here."

"We can tell Kwan that we met when I was at college," Danny explained. "I know lying isn't the best thing, but you can't say we've been completely honest with the people we've dated."

"Yeah," Valerie muttered, "I see your point. I may not like it, but I get it. I just don't want to see Kwan get hurt."

"And I don't want to hurt Kwan." Dan laughed quietly to himself. "And I get how weird that sounds. I wanted to destroy this entire timeline, and I still want to put my fist through something at times. But I guess some of Danny's sappy feelings stuck to me after all. I actually care about someone. It's weird."

"Weird might be an understatement." Valerie sighed. "But I'm good now. Let's go in. I'm getting hungry."

"See you later, Dan."

"Bye." Dan shook his head as he ended the call. That conversation was probably best done over the phone. If he was in the same room as Valerie, Dan knew she would have tried to put her fist through his head several times.

Setting the phone down on the table, Dan frowned at the Portal. Danny managed to repair the damage he did when he burst through the doors. They were fixed up like nothing had ever happened to them. He almost snorted to realize Danny had gotten so good at repairing his parents' inventions, even when they looked busted beyond repair. Maybe he went a little overboard with his dramatic entrance, but at the time, he felt like Danny deserved the scare.

Until a little while ago, months maybe or years even - time was hard to tell when he was stuck in the Thermos - he still believed he had removed all emotions when he was extracted from Danny. Apparently that was a lie he told himself to avoid facing the truth. He had feelings, beyond just rage and a desire to destroy. At first, it was too much, too overwhelming. He rampaged for he didn't know how long before he could sort through all of it.

Dan shook his head. That was why Clockwork kept him locked up for so long. He needed to learn how control his emotions. He frowned, giving the Portal a dry stare. There had to be an easier way for him to go through that whole process. Was Clockwork just trying to be cruel? That sounded like something he would do to Dan. A part of him did recognize that he probably wouldn't have listened to anything Clockwork said to him until just recently.

"Well, this is going to be a boring night." Dan hopped off the table then pocketed the phone, just in case Danny decided to call him again. He hadn't sensed anything all night. No ghosts for him to stop from attacking town, and they hadn't found any leads on what the big threat Clockwork saw coming was. He could fly around town and hope to stumble upon something entertaining. He had another idea in mind though. It was Danny's idea, actually, and he hated to say Danny had a good idea. But the idea was good.

Dan flew through the Portal and took off through the Ghost Zone. It only took a few minutes for him to find the island lair of Ember. It resembled a giant stadium for holding a concert, and it happened to be right next to Skulker's jungle island. He touched down on the edge of the island and stared up at Ember's name emblazoned in neon over the entrance. It was surprisingly quiet as he walked through the entrance. The stands were empty. Dan would be surprised, but he guessed even musicians needed time to relax.

"Yo, Ember!" Dan called out with his hands cupped around his mouth.

Ember's head jerked up, and her fingers stopped plucking the strings of her guitar. "You know," she frowned, her expression guarded, "it's rude to just wander into someone else's lair."

Dan placed his hands on his hips. "Yet you all have no qualms about barging into Danny's lair to go through the Portal."

Ember snapped her mouth shut. "All right. You have a point there." She stood up then crossed the stage to rest her guitar in its stand. "So," she walked to the edge of the stage and hopped down, "what are you doing here?"

Dan's mouth pursed slightly. "I guess I haven't done anything to deserve a warm welcome." He wouldn't have cared before, but recognizing he had feelings and working through his issues had changed a lot in him. "Danny had this idea that I should start up a fight club in the Ghost Zone."

Ember halted, eying him warily. "A fight club? And Danny suggested this?"

Dan's brow creased. Why was she reacting like this? Then it clicked. "Oh no!" He waved a hand in front of him. "This isn't so I can just beat the crap out of ghosts. It's more of a friendly sparring thing. We don't fight to do permanent harm to each other. I know I can't be the only ghost needing to occasionally fight something just to get rid of some pent up aggression. And if we fight each other here, then there's less of us roaming around in the human world causing trouble for Danny. Though I'm sure some ghosts will still do that."

Ember stayed silent, holding a hand to her chin with a deep furrow of concentration in her brow. "There is a certain amount of sense there. I know a bunch of ghosts that slip out just because they're looking for a fight. Skulker mostly just likes to test out his traps on Danny. He says he's given up on actually hunting Danny, but I have my doubts about that."

"And you meet up with Danny why?" His tone came out a bit snarky, but he was genuinely curious.

Ember rolled her eyes. "We jam sometimes. Sometime during his, I don't remember, junior year, maybe? He asked me to teach him how to play the guitar. Since then, we've had jam sessions whenever we can manage it. Sometimes, I even let him join me on stage," she pointed her thumb over her shoulder, "when I have a concert."

Dan stared past her to the stage then glanced around the stadium. "So you don't go into the human world anymore? No more hypnotizing people?"

Ember shrugged. "I did that for a while, but all I ever really wanted was people to hear my music and enjoy it. I guess at some point, Danny helped me realize that I had fans among the ghosts. They come to hear me play. I'm satisfied with that."

Dan nodded. "Well, with your popularity, you could easily help advertise the whole fight club thing. Once I actually figure out how to get that set up."

"Skulker might be willing to help. This sounds like something he would enjoy."

Dan chuckled. "It does, doesn't it?"

"So," Ember folded her arms, "if you knew that, why come to me?"

Dan rubbed at his neck as he glanced around the stadium. "I guess because you're really the only ghost other than Clockwork that knows about me. And I'm definitely not going to Clockwork for anything." He landed a sharp glare on Ember, like she had suggested Clockwork's name in the first place.

"Yeah, I guess that does make sense." Ember walked over and placed a hand on his arm. "Look. I know Clockwork can be a jerk and being stuck in the Thermos for so long had to be maddening, but you do seem to be in a much better place now than when you went into the Thermos. Not that I think that justifies how long you were stuck in the Thermos, but it sounds like you maybe did need that cooling off period."

Dan huffed. "I just need to be mad about it."

Ember laughed. "Okay. I'll let you be mad." She leaned against the wall of the stands. "Was there any other reason for you to come to me?"

"I guess," Dan squinted at her, "dating advice wouldn't be wise."

Ember snorted, holding a hand over her grinning mouth. "Me? Dating advice? Have you seen my relationship with Skulker? I'm probably not the best to ask, especially since your little crush is on a human." Still grinning, she folded her arms again. "You're better off asking Danny about that."

Dan grimaced. "You might be right, but there's just something embarrassing about asking another version of yourself for dating advice." Sighing, he realized it might actually come to that if he got desperate enough. "But there might be something you can help me with."

"Oh?" Ember's eyebrows lifted, curiosity sparkling in her green eyes. "And how can I be of help?"

"I noticed Danny updated his look." Dan threw his arms out to the side. "I thought it was time I got an update too."

Ember's gaze flicked over him. "Yeah," she smirked, "you could really use a new look. Especially if you want to impress this guy you like."

"Hey!" Dan protested heatedly.

"Don't be such a baby." Ember laughed as she took his hand. "Now let's see what we can do to freshen up that look of yours." She pulled him toward the stage, and Dan thought the curtains at the back fluttered ominously. Was Ember the best choice to ask for help on a makeover? He might regret this decision.


	14. Chapter 14

Dash sat up in bed, rubbing the heels of his palms against his eyes. It was only a quarter to seven, but he doubted he would be able to go back to sleep after that dream. He groaned into his hands. Why did Kwan have to make those comments the other day when they were all over at his place? If Kwan hadn't said anything, Dash probably wouldn't have spent the whole movie glancing at Fenton out of the corner of his eye. There was a point during the movie where Dash was certain Fenton dozed off, and he struggled not to call attention to it by laughing at him.

A smile tugged at his face, but Dash quickly replaced it with a frown. He wanted to blame this on Kwan, because it was easier, but even if Kwan hadn't said anything, Dash knew he probably would still have paid far too much attention to Fenton. He couldn't explain it, and he tried not to think about it. He glared at his bedspread. His subconscious seemed to have other ideas.

Sighing, Dash climbed out of bed. If he wasn't going back to sleep, he decided he might as well start his day. He hit the bathroom, washing up, brushing his teeth, and gelling back his hair. After he got dressed, he wandered into the kitchen and poked around his refrigerator for a while. In the end, he settled on a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. He ate then washed the bowl and spoon.

When he was ready, Dash grabbed his phone and keys then left his apartment. A jog around town sounded like a good way to put the dream out of his mind. He hoped, anyway. The sky was still gray and overcast, and each breath he took came with the hint of rain. He spotted a few people on the street with umbrellas dangling at their sides. He had no planned route in mind, but somehow, he ended up passing by Elm Street. His gaze lingered on the covered up building. It hadn't changed at all since he last saw it. This time, however, he did spot Kylie loitering outside with a phone to her ear. She chewed on her thumbnail with a panicked expression on her face. Her dark hair was pulled up in a sloppy ponytail, like she did it in a rush.

Should he go over and talk to her? But if the call she was on was about work, Dash probably shouldn't bother her. With how she acted last time, that frightened look in her dark eyes, he wouldn't be surprised if her boss yelled at her, a lot. He didn't want to be the cause of her getting in trouble.

Dash turned to keep jogging down the street. He barely took one step before he rammed into someone. Gritting his teeth, he was ready to bark out a warning to the person. The complaint lodged in his throat when he recognized who he ran into.

"Fenton?" His voice nearly cracked; nearly but not quite.

"Dash?" Fenton stumbled back a step. He blinked, looking almost comically stunned.

Dash bit the inside of his cheek to keep from snickering. "What are you doing here?" he asked when he was able to speak without laughing.

"I thought-" Fenton glanced around, a small crease appearing on his brow. He shook his head. "I was just out for a walk." His eyes flicked over Dash, who tried not to shift under his gaze. The memory of his dream still lingered in his mind. "And what are you doing here? Out for a jog? Or doing some secret investigative journalism?"

Dash couldn't stop the laugh that escaped him. "Just a jog. Though I guess it could make for a good disguise if I ever need to hide in plain sight while digging up some information on a story."

"Yeah," Fenton agreed in a distant tone. His gaze drifted away, like his mind was focused on something else.

Dash hated that he felt a bit miffed at that. "Is something up?" he prodded to draw back Fenton's attention.

"Huh?" Fenton snapped his head back around and blinked at Dash. "Oh, uh, I was just," his brow creased ever so slightly, "what is going here?" He pointed across the street.

"You don't know?" Dash wanted to be smug, but he still hadn't found out anything about what was happening behind the covered fencing. "I've asked around, but all I've been able to gather is someone came in and bought the building. No one seems to really know much about the person that bought it or what plans they have for it."

Fenton hummed thoughtfully, staring at the building. Then his attention flicked back to Dash. "Came in? Like someone from out of town?"

"Weird, huh?" Dash laughed, folding his arms. "I wonder how good a deal they got on that place. Since it's been empty for so long."

Fenton nodded. "Phantom chased out that ghost ages ago, but everyone seemed to want to keep their distance. I guess outsiders might not even be aware that the building used to be haunted. Or they simply didn't care."

Dash shrugged. "I'm surprised your parents never bought the place. An abandoned haunted building? Sounds just like the kind of place they would love."

Fenton laughed. "Yeah, I supposed that's true." He smiled for a brief moment then turned his head away.

Dash frowned. Why was Fenton being so distracted? He followed Fenton's gaze, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Is everything okay?"

"Huh? Oh. Um." Fenton rubbed at the back of his neck. "I was just thinking I should probably get ready for work soon. Valerie will probably have my head if I'm late again."

"Yeah," Dash chuckled, "I guess it helps having someone you know as your boss. But Val can be pretty scary when she gets mad." He winced. "So you should probably be careful not to press your luck with her."

"You don't have to tell me." Fenton shook his head like he knew all too well what being on Valerie's bad side was like. Maybe that shouldn't be too surprising to Dash. Before they became friends, Valerie treated Fenton no better than Dash had in high school. "But it also has some major downsides."

"What do you mean?" Dash wasn't sure what to make of that look in Fenton's eyes as he frowned.

"Hm, well," Fenton kept his gaze cast down at his feet, "a lot of the other employees already hate that I got the job pretty much because of Vlad. Uh, Mr. Masters." He winced, and Dash cocked an eyebrow upward. "And yeah, I guess you could say I got the job initially because of connections. He basically offered the job to me. But where I am now in the company? That wasn't because of him or because of Val. I got there because I worked hard, and I'm actually pretty good at what I do. But some of them, especially the older ones, you know who have been stuck in the same position for ages and think they keep getting passed over for promotions, are always looking down their noses at me." He sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. Angry lines set into his expression, in the way his jaw clenched, but he seemed to push the feelings away. "I think Val probably has it harder there though."

"Your co-workers kind of sound like dicks."

Fenton blinked at him then snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, I guess some of them are." He smiled, and Dash looked away, scratching behind his ear. "It feels selfish. Wanting Kwan to come work there. Having Val there helps, but she already has so much responsibility on her shoulders. Sometimes I don't want to unload my problems onto her, even if it's just ranting for the sake of ranting. Ah!" He waved his hands in front of him, his cheeks turning pink. "That's not - I'm not trying to say I just want Kwan to work there so I can complain to him." He bowed his head, raking a hand through his dark hair. "Ugh, that came out all wrong."

Dash shook his head. "Kwan's the kind of person who would totally be down for listening to you rant about terrible co-workers." He smiled fondly.

Fenton relaxed, slightly. "Uh, so, that whole part confused me. Why were you and Val being all weird when Kwan said he was working at his parents' place?"

"Oh, that." Dash's mouth pressed thin. "Well-"

"Dash!"

He turned his head, his thoughts scattering to the wind as he blinked at Kylie. Sometime during his talk with Fenton, Kylie must have finished her call and crossed the street. "Kylie, hey!" His voice sounded strained and awkward to his ear, and he could feel Fenton's quizzical look boring into the back of his head. "What are you doing here?"

Kylie gave him a half smile, her expression almost pitying. "Working. But," she held a finger up to her lips, "shh! I'm just sneaking out for a little breakfast while my boss thinks I'm still on a phone call."

Dash nodded, and it took him a minute to remember Fenton was standing behind him. "Oh, right!" He stepped aside and gestured to Fenton. "Kylie, this is Fenton."

"Danny," he said, reaching out to shake her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Danny." Kylie smiled, and after shaking his hand, she glanced between the two of them. "Did I interrupt something?"

Dash shared a look with Fenton. "No," he shook his head, "we just happened to bump into each other."

Kylie nodded. "Old friends?"

Dash bit back a laugh, but Fenton laughed outright. "Oh, no!" Fenton waved off the question. "We just went to high school together." A smile stuck on Fenton's face, and Dash's gaze lingered on it. "So you work around here?"

Kylie's head bobbed, and her glasses slipped down her nose. She reached up to push them back up. "Yeah, right over there." She pointed to the building across the street.

Fenton looked up at it. "I can't believe someone finally bought that place. I was pretty sure it would stay empty forever."

"Is it really that strange?" Kylie tilted her head to the side.

"It's just that the place was haunted," Dash explained, shrugging. "That spooked the original owners, and at that time, ghosts were such a new concept for us. People got superstitious, and the place just stayed empty."

"But the place is perfectly safe," Fenton added. "It's been at least a decade since that ghost got chased out. It hasn't been haunted since."

"By that Phantom character, right?" Kylie lifted her gaze to the sky. "I don't think I've seen him ever since I got here. Is he really real?"

Dash couldn't respond for a moment, his brow knitting. How had she not seen Phantom at least once?

"Definitely real." Fenton laughed. "It feels like we didn't go a day in high school without seeing him, right?" He nudged Dash with an elbow to the side. "There were so many ghost attacks back then, I'm surprised any of us even graduated."

"Yeah," Dash agreed. "But I guess since there are a lot less attacks nowadays, we don't see Phantom as often."

"I see. So he only really comes out when there's a ghost attack?"

"You sure seem interested in Phantom," Fenton said, and Dash glanced his way at the odd tone of his voice.

"Oh!" Kylie dropped her gaze, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "Well, he sounds like such a local hero. I guess I just got curious about him."

"So what do you do at your job?" Dash asked, frowning at Fenton for a moment before turning to Kylie.

"Oh, I'm just an assistant. Which mostly means I do a lot of errand running for my boss." She winced, and Dash guessed a lot of those errands weren't fun to run. "She's a very busy woman, so if things aren't done right away, she gets pretty mad." She checked the time on her phone. "And if I'm lucky, I still have time for at least a quick bite before she yells at me to get back to work."

"Don't let us hold you up then," Dash said.

Kylie nodded. "See you around." She waved then headed over to the diner Dash ate breakfast at on Saturday.

"So how do you know her?" Fenton asked when they were standing alone on the street.

The strong urge to tease him swelled up in Dash, but he managed to resist it. "We bumped into each other last week." He rolled one shoulder. "She spilled coffee on me, we chatted for a bit, but she had to rush off." He glanced thoughtfully at the diner. "That seems to be a running theme with her." Even if this was only their second meeting.

"She's pretty cute."

"Huh?" Dash scratched the side of his head. "I mean, I guess, yeah." Admittedly, he hadn't paid a whole lot of attention to whether she was cute or not. His interest in her was more curiosity about what her boss was doing with that building.

"Hm." Fenton eyed him as he leaned back. "Maybe I'm still stuck thinking about how you were in high school." He actually looked embarrassed about that. "If I remember, you used to hit on almost every girl."

Dash huffed. "Not every girl." But he guessed it shouldn't surprise him that Fenton still saw him like that. He did try to date a lot of the girls at their high school. He realized later that he probably did that because he thought it was expected of him. Football players were supposed to get with lots of girls. They were supposed to brag about their "conquests." After high school, he learned how disgusting that behavior was. He wasn't treating any of those girls like actual people. They were just attractive bodies he flirted with to appear cool. He was glad he didn't act that way anymore.

"I guess you really have changed."

"Of course! And you haven't?"

Fenton laughed. "Yeah, I guess we all have." He shook his head. "It's just hard to see when I'm letting myself be blinded by the past."

"Yeah." Dash lowered his gaze with a swell of embarrassment. He could say the same thing. Until that night out drinking, he still thought of Fenton as that scrawny loser from a weird family. "Didn't you say you needed to get ready for work?"

"Oh, shoot! Right!" Fenton slapped his forehead. "I really don't want Val yelling at me when I get there."

"I can walk back to your place," Dash offered before the words could catch up to his brain. He winced inwardly. "That is, uh, if you want."

Fenton stared, and Dash shifted, feeling like he suddenly grew a second head. "Okay," he said in a quiet voice. He turned stiffly to walk down the street, and Dash fell into step next to him.

For a couple of blocks, they walked in silence, but the quiet began to eat at him until he couldn't stand it any longer. He needed to break the awkwardness somehow. Kwan was better at this kind of stuff. What was he supposed to say? He frowned as he searched his brain for any topic.

"So," he flicked his gaze to Fenton then back ahead of him, "you invited Kwan over next weekend?"

"Yeah," Fenton answered then cringed. "I mean, he invited me over to your movie night. I just wanted to repay that." His shoulders hunched, and he kept his gaze trained ahead of him. "If you really want, you can join us. I'll probably just cook some dinner. And I have games, if we don't want to watch movies again."

"Sounds fun." Dash grinned, and it was strange to think that it really did sound like fun.


	15. Chapter 15

Danny looked up when Valerie hopped off her speed board and landed next to him on the rooftop. The speed board retracted back into her suit as she folded her arms. Danny finished off the text he was writing at the time she showed up then shoved his phone into his pocket.

"Just keeping Sam and Tucker updated," he explained. "I don't want Sam jeopardizing her job to fly out here just because she's worried about something happening because I didn't say anything."

Valerie nodded curtly. "Yeah, she seemed ready to tagalong with us when we left Tucker's place."

The sun had set hours ago, stars now dotting the dark sky. Below them, street lights and shop signs lit up. When he glanced over the edge of the rooftop, Danny watched the cars passing by and the people wandering down the street.

"You seemed pretty distracted today."

Danny drew his attention back to Valerie. "Oh, uh, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck, casting his gaze upward. "I had a weird morning." His thoughts went back to his run in with Dash. After the initial awkwardness, the walk back to his house was actually rather enjoyable. He never imagined Dash would be into video games, but they ended up discussing a lot of games they played all the way back to his house. That, however, wasn't what he wanted to share with Valerie. "I thought I sensed a ghost around here this morning."

Valerie tilted her head. "You thought? You aren't sure?"

Danny frowned. "It was kind of faint. I couldn't really pinpoint where it was coming from." He stared at the street, extending his sense as far as they would go, but he couldn't locate any ghost activity.

"I didn't pick up anything on my scanners." Valerie lifted her arm and tapped at a few buttons on her forearm. "You're absolutely sure you sensed a ghost?"

Danny shook his head. "I can't say for certain. I just know that I got a flutter of something around this area."

"I want to trust your ghost sense over my tech." Valerie frowned as her sharp gaze scanned the street for anything out of the ordinary. "Do you think Dan might have better luck finding this ghost?"

"I told him to meet us here." Danny pulled out his phone, checking for any messages. "I think he was hanging out in the Ghost Zone all day."

"I guess that's better than causing trouble here." Valerie sighed. "I really hate this. Knowing there's a threat on the way is a lot more frustrating than having an attack come out of nowhere."

"I guess that's why Clockwork typically doesn't give us some kind of warning." But Danny could understand what Valerie was feeling. He hated the waiting. He hated being on edge and expecting an attack to come at any moment. He still had no clues what exactly the threat might be, and he doubted he would get any clues until something actually happened.

"What's up, losers?" Dan popped up in front of them, and Danny nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Stop doing that!" Danny snapped with a hand placed over his stuttering heart.

Dan grinned like the Cheshire cat, with maybe a little pride mixed in. Danny blinked several times in stunned silence. Even Valerie was a bit taken aback by the huge difference in Dan's ghostly appearance. Danny knew Dan was working on a new look, but he hadn't actually seen it until now. His hair was still comprised of flames, but he kept them relatively short, even ditching the ponytail he originally had. He also dropped the cape. His outfit looked relatively normal with a simply black sleeveless turtleneck top, pants, and boots. He had accents of dark green breaking up the solid color. He wore gloves, and Danny almost rolled his eyes when he noticed they were fingerless.

"Doing what? What did he do?" Valerie eyed Dan, reminding Danny of his earlier outburst.

"Dan learned a fun little trick while he was in the Thermos." Danny glared, but it only served to amuse Dan even more. "He can hide his presence so I can't sense him."

"If you want me to trust him, that isn't helpful information." Valerie narrowed her green eyes, and the deadly glare was enough to make Dan flinched, his smirk faltering.

"I know. But I have to trust that he isn't using this ability to do bad things." Danny shot Dan a look then turned to Valerie. "But since he arrived, he really hasn't done anything bad."

"I thought we had this talk already," Dan grumbled. "And I'm already working on that whole ghost fight club thing so I can work out my aggression in a better way."

Valerie held up her hands. "Okay. But you can understand how it's hard for me to trust you."

Dan huffed as he looked away. "Yeah."

"I'm working on it. It just takes time."

"I get it," he muttered. "It took me long enough to want to change. I shouldn't expect to be trusted overnight." Frowning, he placed his hands on his hips. "Are you really just going to ignore the new look?"

Danny laughed, and Valerie rolled her eyes. "It looks good." That got a grin out of Dan.

"You should have seen some of the crazy ideas Ember had." Dan shook his head. "I already let her paint my nails. Dressing like a member of KISS was a big no."

"Oh!" Valerie snapped her fingers. "Do you think that ghost could have been using an ability like Dan?"

"What ghost?" Dan's brow furrowed in puzzlement.

"If it's still learning how to do it, that could explain why you only felt flutters of a presence."

Danny placed a hand to his chin and considered it. "The only other ghost I can think of who tried to mask their presence from me was Spectra, and she had to drop the temperature of the whole school to keep me from recognizing my ghost sense going off around her."

"So that's why the school was so cold!" Valerie gasped as understanding came to her.

"Can we get back to the ghost?" Dan prompted.

"Right." Danny sighed, shaking his head. "I don't think a lot of ghosts would even bother to try learning to mask their presence. You and I are the only ones who have been hunting them. And even those occasional times when those 'ghost hunters' come to town, they aren't really capable of finding ghosts anyway. So no ghost really feels threatened by them."

"Hm. That's a good point." Valerie nodded, but her mouth pursed. She didn't like that answer. "So how do you explain this morning then?"

"I don't know."

"Are you going to fill me in or not?" Dan asked in a gruff tone, not appreciating how they were ignoring his question.

Danny sighed tiredly as he retold his story about the flutter of a ghostly presence he sensed that morning. It wasn't a lot to go on, and he could tell from the twitch in Dan's jaw that he wasn't happy with the lack of information.

"There's always the possibility that this ghost doesn't even have anything to do with the threat Clockwork sees coming," Danny finished. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't look into it. I don't want to ignore something that could potentially point us in the right direction. We might end up kicking ourselves later if this turns out to actually be something."

"So now we just patrol around and hope we stumble onto this ghost?" Dan lifted an unimpressed eyebrow. "Is that how you usually work?"

"Just help us, okay?" Danny scowled.

With Dan's grumbled agreement to help out, they planned out patrol areas for each of them. Danny passed out Fenton Phones to each of them. He improved the design over the years, even making sure they worked on an encrypted frequency so no one could accidentally listen in on their conversation. Once they all fitted the Fenton Phones to their ears, they split up and headed to their designated area.

Danny soared over the buildings, scanning the streets for any activity. His ghost sense wasn't picking up on anything. Did he imagine the whole thing? His ghost sense never acted up like this. Was he just tired and that was causing his powers to act up? He shook his head. He was tired plenty of times in the past without sensing phantom ghosts.

"Anything yet?" Danny asked, hovering over the street.

"All quiet over here," Valerie answered.

"I expected something more exciting when you called me," Dan grumbled.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Being a hero isn't always exciting." He kept moving, but like Dan, he was hoping for something to happen.

Danny circled his patrol area without finding anything or even sensing another ghost. He was ready to call it a night. Before he could contact Valerie or Dan, a spike of icy cold shot up his spine. He stiffened with a gasp. Focusing his ghost sense, he managed to locate the ghost.

"Found something," Danny told the others as he flew toward the ghost.

He swooped down into an alley and stopped in front of the ghost. He prepared for a fight, his muscles tensing and his hands slightly glowing. But when he stood before the ghost, all the fight fled from him. He stared uncertainly at the tabby cat glowing in an ethereal whitish green light. He crossed paths with the ghost of animals in the past. Cujo the ghost puppy came to mind. But something about this one nagged at him.

"Where is it?" Valerie landed next to him.

"Are you kidding?" Dan huffed, crouching down behind the cat. "All that fuss over a cat?"

Danny scratched his head. "I guess that could explain the flutter I felt." He shrugged, not confident in that thought. "And you know how destructive the ghost of an animal can be." He folded his arms with a meaningful look at Dan. But the cat seemed more scared than anything else. The cat's back was hunched with his tailed curled down between his legs. He even seemed to be trembling.

"Oh yeah." Dan leaned back on his heels. "Cujo! I'd almost forgotten about him. I wonder what happened to him." He frowned in curious thought.

"Please tell me you didn't hurt Cujo in your timeline," Valerie said with a hard edge to her voice. "Because I swear if you did-"

"Hey! Whoa!" Dan's hands shot up into the air. "I never even saw Cujo after merging with Plasmius. Which is probably for the best. I would like to say I wouldn't hurt him, but I can't really say how I would have acted if I crossed paths with Cujo at that time."

"I really hope you wouldn't hurt Cujo," Danny muttered.

The cat mewed plaintively, calling their attention back to him.

"Poor little guy." Valerie's expression softened as she stared down at the cat. "I hope whatever happened was quick and painless."

Danny agreed. "I guess this really didn't have anything to do with Clockwork's threat. But we should take him to the Ghost Zone. I think there are some child ghosts that would be happy to take him in."

As much as he loved Cujo, it was difficult to take care of a ghost puppy, especially one that liked to break out of the Ghost Zone frequently, while having to deal with school and ghost hunting. Not to mention his parents still not knowing about his dual identity at the time. Sometime during his sophomore year, he came across the ghost a young boy, maybe around seven or eight, who was struggling with accepting that he was now a ghost. Cujo helped the child adjust to his new life. Danny visited them sometimes over the years. They still seemed really happy together.

The cat's shoulders hunched up, and he let out a horrible hacking noise.

Dan jerked back from the cat with his hands raised. "I didn't do that!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "It was probably a hairball." But he admitted he hated hearing that sound. It always sounded way too painful, and he worried that the cat would hurt himself. "Though I guess it's kind of weird for a ghost cat to have hairballs." With a frown, he scratched the back of his head.

"Danny!" Valerie smacked him on the arm. He winced and rubbed at the spot she hit. "That's not normal, right?"

Danny and Dan focused on the cat, who had coughed up a blob of green ectoplasm onto the alley ground while they talked. His brow furrowed, and he couldn't recall seeing that happen during his past experiences with ghost cats. He couldn't say for certain that it wasn't normal though. The cat kept low to the ground while he made whining noises.

"That is not normal!" Dan pointed at the cat, looking as horrified as Danny felt watching the pool of ectoplasm spreading beneath the cat.

None of them moved as the cat cried out. Danny almost couldn't take his eyes away as the cat dissolved into nothing more than a green puddle. Valerie turned away with a hand over her mouth. Dan stared in stoic silence. Danny wasn't sure what to do, or even what to think. They stayed there, not moving, for several minutes.

"I know I did terrible things," Dan said, breaking the stillness that hung over them, "but I never did anything like that." He pointed at the ectoplasm. "What the hell was that?"

"What do you think happened to it to cause that?" Valerie asked in a shaky voice.

Danny shook his head. He swallowed, the lump sticking in his throat. "I have no idea." Stiffly, he stepped forward then crouched down by the ectoplasm. "But if someone could do this to a ghost, imagine if they figured out a way into the Ghost Zone."

Dan looked even greener at that comment. "That definitely sounds like threat Clockwork would be concerned about."

"Yeah." Danny waved his hand, and a bubble shield encased the pool of ectoplasm. "Maybe if we take it back to the lab, we can figure out what caused this happened."

"Might be a good time to call your parents and Vlad," Valerie suggested. "We might need all the help we can get to find out answers on this."

"Yeah," Danny mumbled, "you might be right."


	16. Chapter 16

Dash sipped at his coffee as he walked down the street, scrolling through a news feed on his phone. He glanced over the headlines before flipping to the next story. A store downtown was the target of a robbery with only blurry security images to hint at the culprits. A car accident put three people in the hospital, and the driver was in critical condition. Mr. McCord, whose daughter was diagnosed with a terminal illness last year, gave a statement recently that he had high hopes for a new cure. A picture was included with the article. The man looked to be around fifty or sixty as he posed with a young woman, both smiling happily. Dash guessed it was taken before she was diagnosed. The next story talked about road construction, and he scrolled past it without reading too much of the article.

His phone rang before he could look into the next story. Dash stopped walking and stared at his phone. It shouldn't have been strange, but it was. After hesitating for a moment, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi," Paulina greeted in an oddly small, quiet voice. Silence fell over them, and Dash was uncertain of what to say. Or maybe he was just too scared to say anything, fearing he might accidentally anger her. Paulina huffed a sigh. "Okay. This is too weird! Look. I was stupid. I can see that now, looking back. I was so dumb. I was at this point in my life where everything just felt perfect. I had a good job. I was making good money. I had a boyfriend I loved. I thought we were headed for that whole marriage and two kids kind of forever thing. I was so blinded by this desire for the perfect life that I was willing to ignore that he was maybe not that great of a guy. I should have listened to you. And I know you were just looking out for me, and that's the only reason you even said anything. But I was just too stupid to see what you saw." She took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. "There. I said it."

She still knew how to talk his ear off, and Dash was processing her words long after she finished speaking. "You're not stupid." Dash shook his head. What was with his friends? "You're an intelligent, beautiful woman who one hundred percent deserves that perfect happy ending. I just wanted you to be happy, but there was something about that guy that just rubbed me the wrong way. I never wanted things to end up the way they did."

"I know. I'm sorry I acted the way I did." Paulina laughed, but there was a hint of nervousness. "Can you believe I actually thought you were saying that out of jealousy? I feel so silly. I knew you weren't, but it was an easy excuse to use so I didn't have to face reality."

His mouth twitched in a fond smile. "You looked like you had the perfect life. It would be easy to be jealous of that."

"I still feel bad," Paulina said sorrowfully. "I acted like a real jerk, and we lost a lot of time."

"I don't want you to feel bad. And we're talking now. That's the most important thing to me."

"How mature of you," she teased. "So I heard Kwan moved back to Amity Park."

"He did." Dash finished off his coffee then found a trash can on the street to throw away the cup. "Can you believe he would actually take up a job at his parents' restaurant?"

"No!" Paulina gasped. "I wonder what happened to make him do that."

"I have been wondering that myself."

"Hm." Paulina pondered. "Well, he'll tell us when he's ready. Oh! But this makes me want to come back!"

Dash laughed. "Aren't you in Hawaii?"

"I leave tomorrow. And I didn't mean I was planning on moving back." Paulina definitely rolled her eyes at him. "I just meant for a visit. I miss all of you, and since you're all living there now, it's a great time for me to stop by. I don't have to be back to work for a little bit anyway."

Dash smiled softly. "And we would love to see you." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Though if things keep going as they have been, I hope you don't mind Fenton tagging along."

"Danny?" Paulina said in surprise.

"Ah, yeah. Val asked him to come out with us one night, and I guess it's a thing now." He shrugged.

"Uh huh." Paulina was smiling. It was in her voice, and Dash could picture the smile in his mind and didn't like it. "So how is Danny? And by that, I obviously mean: Is he cute?"

"You're not," Dash frowned as jealousy tickled at the back of his mind, "interested in him, are you?"

Paulina laughed, and heat flushed across his cheeks. "I was only curious if he filled out at all or is still kind of that awkward dweeby looking kid he was in high school. I know. You don't have to tell me. It's superficial to only base things on appearances. But I haven't seen him since high school. Can you blame me for wondering what he looks like now?"

Dash laughed. "No, I guess not. It's probably a natural curiosity everyone has when thinking about people they knew years ago."

"Yeah. I noticed you didn't answer though. Are you, perhaps, interested yourself?"

"What? Where are you getting that from?" Dash scratched a hand through his hair, his ears burning. First, Kwan teased him. Now he was getting it from Paulina too?

"Hey, we're not in high school anymore. If you're interested in him, I say go for it."

Dash groaned, and Paulina giggled. He hoped this wouldn't become a running theme where his friends teased him. He might know that Fenton dated men before, but that didn't mean Fenton would be interested in him.

Movement caught his eyes, and Dash glanced across the street. He spotted the waitress Brooke's brother Theo, who looked about the street before he ducked into an alley. Dash frowned at the suspicious behavior. 

"Hey, I hate to cut this call short," Dash said distractedly.

"Let me guess. A story caught your eye?"

"Something like that." Dash was glad she sounded amused rather than annoyed.

"I guess I should let you go then," she said with a dramatic sigh. "Hopefully I'll see you soon."

"See you soon." Dash hung up and stuffed his phone into his pocket.

When the street was clear, he hurried across to the other side. He reached the alley and peered around the corner. Several feet away, Theo met up with someone. Dash expected the man to look like some kind of tough drug dealer with lots of tattoos and piercings. Maybe he had watched too many movies and television shows. This man was cleaned up, wearing a suit, but he still seemed on the sketchy side to Dash. They discussed something, but their tones were murmured. From where he stood, Dash couldn't make out anything they said. They passed something between each other, which Dash could only assume was Theo paying the man for more drugs. He frowned. There was nothing he could really do if Theo refused to seek the help he needed. He just hoped Theo would leave Brooke out of this and stop begging money off her.

The scene still seemed odd to him. What was some business looking man doing peddling drugs in an alley? Dash wanted to get closer so he could hear what they talked about. But what if he spooked them? He shook his head. He was looking at this like it was another investigation for an article. This wasn't about chasing down leads for some article about the drug problems facing their town. He followed Theo because of Brooke. After what happened at the diner, he felt invested in the situation. Even knowing it wasn't any of his business, he didn't want to see Theo's drug use become a problem for Brooke.

When he focused back on the scene in front of him, panic set in. The dealer walked away, heading toward the opposite end of the alley. Theo, meanwhile, was headed straight toward him. Dash jerked back, scrambling to get out of sight, when he rammed his back into someone. He apologized to the woman, who scowled at him like he was a gross piece of gum stuck to the bottom of her black strappy high heels. She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder as she continued walking down the street. The brief interaction cost him valuable time.

"You!"

Dash winced at the furious voice. He turned to face Theo. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

Theo's face twisted with anger. "Are you spying on me?"

Dash huffed, folding his arms. "Why would I bother to spy on you?"

"You seemed eager to jump into something that wasn't your business before. So why not?" Theo spat at him, and Dash frowned at the now wet spot between his feet. "I don't need your help, and I didn't ask for it."

Dash raised his hands in front of him. "And I wasn't planning on giving it to you. It's pointless to try helping someone who clearly doesn't want it."

"Then don't spy on me," Theo growled.

"Again, not spying." Dash shrugged, sticking his hands into his pockets. "But this whole thing does make me think. I could have been in your position. Back in high school, I was kind of the star of our football team. I think if I had suffered a career ending injury-"

"I don't want your stupid sympathy, old man." Theo shoved him with both hands against his chest. It barely made Dash back up a step. "What I want is for you to leave me alone." He pointed a finger in Dash's face. "And stay away from my sister."

Dash narrowed his eyes. "If you're going to start acting protective of her, maybe you should start thinking about how much your drug use is hurting her." He rammed his shoulder into Theo as he walked past him. He didn't need to look back to know Theo was probably rubbing his arm. Theo acted tough, but the drug use had robbed him of whatever muscles he once had.

Dash turned the corner at the end of the street, raking a hand through his hair. Maybe he should never have gotten involved in the first place, but it was hard to sit idle when he saw Theo harassing his sister for money. He just had to do something! Whether Theo liked it or not, Dash was involved now, and he still wished he could convince Theo to get the help he needed. But in the end, nothing he said or did would do any good until Theo wanted to get over his drug addiction. It went round and round in his head as he walked.

When he pulled himself out of the circular thinking, Dash found himself standing in front of a small family owned restaurant. A smile tugged at his face as he shook his head. Since he was here anyway, he decided he might as well go in for a visit. He opened the door and entered the restaurant. Taking a look around, he felt like he stepped back in time to when he was still a teen in high school. Not much about the restaurant had changed since then.

"Hey, Mr. Long," Dash greeted with a grin.

Kwan's father looked up from where he sat at the cash register, counting the money in the till. He grunted a greeting, and Dash got the impression he wasn't very happy to see him.

"Always nice to see you." Dash walked farther into the restaurant. It was after the lunch hour rush, and not many customers lingered at the tables. When he spotted Kwan wiping down one of the empty tables, Dash smiled and made his way over to him. "I feel like I'm fifteen again being back here."

Kwan jerked his head up then laughed. "It does, doesn't it?" He walked around the table then pulled Dash into a hug. "What are you doing here?"

Dash shrugged. "Just happened to be passing by. Thought I'd take the chance to see if you were around."

Kwan smiled. "I might be able to sneak you an eggroll or two."

"Oh, lucky me!" Dash nudged him the ribs. "Did you make them?"

Kwan rolled his eyes. "I mostly just do this." He waved his towel at the table. "I don't get to do anything in the kitchen."

Dash gasped, slapping a hand to his chest. "The tragedy! That is a terrible shame. You make great eggrolls." He took a seat at the table while Kwan finished wiping it clean. The rest of the tables looked pretty clean, except for the few that still had people eating. "Got a call from Paulina earlier."

Kwan stopped working, lifting his gaze. "Uh," he chewed worriedly on his lip, "good call or bad call?"

"Good. We talked. I think things are good now. She's thinking of coming back for a visit."

"Oh, that's good." Kwan breathed out, placing a hand over his chest. "I hated that rift between the two of you."

"Me too." Dash relaxed. It was like this enormous weight had finally lifted from him. He knew the whole thing bothered him, but he hadn't realized just how much until now. He felt lighter. It was a good feeling. "I told her if we hung out, Fenton might be there too."

"Oh? How did she take that?" Kwan lifted his eyebrows.

Dash made a face, his nose scrunching up. "She wanted to know if he was cute." He frowned when Kwan laughed so hard it looked like a tear managed to escape. "Why are you laughing?"

"Hm." Kwan hummed with a smile on his face. "That sounds like her. You're not jealous of the idea of her dating him, are you?"

Dash huffed. "I wish you all would stop saying that." He leaned his head in his hand as he sat forward at the table. "Even if you want to say I have feelings for him, that means nothing if he doesn't have feelings for me too."

"Do you have feelings for him?" Kwan wasn't teasing now, his expression growing serious.

Dash looked away, heat creeping onto his cheeks. "I don't know." He couldn't meet his gaze, but he knew Kwan was watching him, silently and expectantly. Kwan wouldn't push for the answer, but he would wait for it. "I don't know how I feel!" Dash threw his arms up. "When I went to his house, I wasn't expecting Fenton to feed me dinner. I wasn't expecting it to feel normal either. Like, he should seriously hate me. I made his life hell in high school. He should have shoved the plate of spaghetti in my face and told me to stay the hell away from him. But he didn't. And it felt like I was sitting down having a meal with an old friend." He looked straight into Kwan's bright green eyes. "That's weird, right?"

After a minute, Kwan's expression softened. "Have you thought about talking to him about how you might be feeling?"

Dash frowned at the table. "What if that messes up this weird sort of friendship we're building? I can't believe I'm saying this." He shook his head, baffled by his own emotions. "But I do like hanging out with him. It's been really nice talking with him. Even about stupid things like video games. I don't want him to get weird and feel like he can't hang out around me because of 'feelings' I might have."

Kwan rolled his eyes. "You're both mature adults." He gave Dash a look. "I hope."

"Hey!"

Kwan laughed. "I'm just teasing. I don't think Danny would be the type of person to stop hanging out with you just because you might like him. Unless you started acting really weird and creepy about it."

Dash snorted. "I'm no Bryce."

Kwan's brow furrowed. "Who's Bryce?"

"Uh, just Fenton's ex. And he sounds like a real nut job."

Kwan nodded then huffed a little laugh. "Already talking about exes?"

Dash groaned. "How long are you going to tease me?"

Kwan grinned like a fox. "Can you blame me for a little teasing?"

Dash grumbled. "I guess not." He stood. "I should probably get going. There are stories that need to be written, and they won't write themselves."

"See you on Saturday."

"See you!" Dash waved goodbye as he walked toward the exit of the restaurant. "Bye, Mr. Long!" The only response he got was another grunt before he stepped out the door.


	17. Chapter 17

Danny yawned as he opened the door. "Val," he rubbed at his eye with the heel of one palm, "why are you here so early?"

Valerie pushed her way into the house. "You planned to have everyone over at, what, seven tonight?"

"Uh, yeah." Danny scratched the back of his head as he closed the door. "So why are you so early?"

"Then that gives us plenty of time to pay Vlad and your parents a visit."

"What?" Danny jolted fully awake.

"What's going on?" Dan appeared, sticking his head through the ceiling.

"Dan, you can't just do that!" Danny shouted as he pointed at him. "What if it had been anyone other than Valerie that came over?"

Dan rolled his eyes then dropped through the ceiling to land in the front hall with them. "You say that like I didn't know it was Valerie." He folded his arms with an offended look. "I'm not that dumb." He grinned at Danny's scowl. "Now, are you going to tell me? What's going on?"

"We already agreed that we were going to need help with," Valerie grimaced at the memory, "what happened. Vlad and your parents may be able to give us some kind of insight. That could help point us in the right direction. Then we take out whatever is doing this. Bam!" She smacked a fist into her hand. "Threat gone."

Dan chuckled. "You're really eager to take care of this threat." The smile fell from his face. "Wait. Are you just wanting to get rid of me?"

"Drat." Valerie snapped her fingers. "You've seen right through my plan."

Danny rolled his eyes with an amused smile, but he was happy to see Valerie and Dan getting along. He was still worried about tonight. How would Kwan react when he saw Dan here? Would he think it was weird, or worse suspicious? Would Dan behave enough to not piss off Valerie and Dash? Danny hoped tonight wouldn't be an utter disaster.

"Mostly," Valerie continued, "I just hate waiting on this 'threat' to reveal itself. It's maddening!"

"Yeah, I can totally understand that. But," Danny frowned, "do you really think it's a good idea to go to Vlad?"

"Really, Danny?" Valerie sighed, shoulders slumping a fraction. "After all this time?"

"It's not entirely about Vlad." Danny winced. "I just - Sometimes I want to be able to do stuff on my own. I don't want to always have to run to Vlad for help." Maybe that was silly of him. Since that night they stumbled onto the ghost cat, he spent most of his free time poking at the ectoplasm left by it. So far, he hadn't figured out what exactly caused the cat to dissolve into a pool of ectoplasm. Vlad and his parents might have some better idea of what happened.

"I get wanting to be independent." Valerie placed a hand on his shoulder. "But there's nothing wrong with asking for help."

"So," Dan scratched the side of his head, "what exactly happened with Vlad anyway? Clearly he's not the big bad he once was. How did that all go down?"

Danny shared a look with Valerie. "Well, it kind of all happened our senior year. I guess Vlad was starting to unravel at that point. His plans were, uh, kind of out there. But this time, he just attacked out of nowhere. No master plan. No sneaky scheme. No big monologue stating his grand plan and all that jazz that villains just seem to love doing. He just appeared out of nowhere and started launching energy blasts everywhere."

"Maybe I do get my violent outbursts from him after all," Dan mumbled thoughtfully. "I wouldn't have thought he'd snap like that, but I guess getting his ass kicked by a teenager for so long would drive anyone mad."

"Right. So Val and I went to stop him. How hard could it be? We had done it plenty of times in the past." Danny shrugged. "But the difference this time was that Vlad wasn't holding back. Not even a little. I thought Val and I had gotten a lot stronger since freshmen year. But in that state? Vlad was wiping the floor with us." He shook his head, still embarrassed by how badly Vlad beat him that day. If not for his ghost healing, he would have had some serious broken bones. Valerie luckily only suffered a few bruised ribs. Danny guessed her suit had prevented her from receiving even worse injuries.

"How did you stop him then?" Dan glanced between them, highly curious about the outcome of the fight.

"We didn't." Valerie folded her arms as her mouth pursed. Her relationship with Vlad since then might have improved, but she clearly still held onto some bitterness toward the fight.

"What?" Dan's brow knitted. "Then what happened?"

"Vlad basically had me," Danny replied grimly, lowering his gaze. "I don't think I'll ever forget that look in his eyes while he squeezed his hand around my throat." He absently held a hand to his throat, casting a glance to Dan, who actually managed to look somewhat guilty. "It was madness and desperation. He was so fed up with his situation and all his failures. Before he could do anything, though, my parents showed up. I don't know what I was thinking at the time. Maybe I wasn't. I was so exhausted from the fight. I barely had the energy to summon up a tiny energy ball. I just," he shrugged, "stopped. I transformed back to me right there and then in front of my parents."

"Thankfully, they were the _only_ people that saw it," Valerie added. "By that point, we managed to drive the fight away from any populated area. Which is to say, the sewers." She grimaced. "I don't recommend fighting there. They were so gross and stinky. But we were out sight, and I knew Danny wasn't going to last much longer after such a drawn out fight."

"Yeah, working on endurance along with strength maybe would have been a good idea." Danny winced. "But you can imagine how they reacted to seeing Phantom turn into their son. They were so shocked they couldn't even move. Even Vlad was shocked. He thought I would never reveal myself to them, and to be honest, I never thought I would either. But it was a dire situation, and the gamble paid off."

"I gave him a good punch." Valerie smacked her fist into her hand. "It didn't knock him out." She shrugged. "But it was enough to make him slip up and transform back himself."

"Mom restrained him. She was so pissed."

"That doesn't surprise me." But Dan stared at them, stunned as he listened to the turn of events.

"I've never seen dad look so betrayed. He couldn't believe Plasmius turned out to be Vlad. That his best friend had been behind all those terrible things." Danny looked away, hugging his arms around himself. "And maybe that Phantom turned out to be his son."

"But he jumped into action pretty quickly after Vlad was restrained," Valerie said. "He rushed over to check on you." She smiled, a bit amused. "He scooped you up and was ready to rush off to the hospital to get your injuries treated." She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Being Phantom didn't matter. You are his son, and he loves you no matter what."

"I know." Danny smiled at her. "But at the time, it was terrifying."

"And just like that everything was magically perfect?" Dan scoffed with a frown.

"Not even close." Danny snorted a laugh. "It took a lot of time for my parents to trust Vlad again. There was a lot of explaining that had to be done. It felt like it was months before they stopped asking questions about everything. And I guess being found out finally kicked the wind of Vlad's sails. We kept him locked up in the lab. My parents grilled him endlessly, but Vlad never once tried to escape. He just sat there and answered everything. It was-" Danny shook his head. "It felt like he had really given up on life at that point."

"What was the turning point?"

"They forgave him. I still had trust issues with him. But it was their choice." Danny still couldn't believe Vlad broke down like that, weeping and apologizing and promising he was done with it all. "After that, things started to get better. Yes," he caught Valerie's eyes, "I could see the change in him. But for a long time, I was still on guard, waiting for him to slip up and show his hand. I had only known Vlad as a schemer and manipulator. How could I just suddenly trust him?"

"I definitely wouldn't have trusted him." Dan nodded in understanding.

"I was in that boat too, for a while," Valerie said. "But I've also learned it's not always healthy to cling to past wrongs. Sometimes it can be good, for you, to forgive someone." She held up a hand. "Not that everyone deserves to be forgiven or that you have to do it before you're personally ready to. I'm just talking about my own personal experiences. I felt better after I decided to forgive Vlad for what he did."

"Yeah, I get it. It's just sometimes hard to put some of the stuff he did behind me."

"Do I need to start apologizing until I'm forgiven too?" Dan frowned. "I'm not really good at that stuff."

"You know, an apology can be as simple as saying you're sorry." Danny half laughed. It was strange thinking about Dan wanting to apologize. "It doesn't have to be some long speech detailing a laundry list of your wrongdoing."

Dan barked a laugh. "That would be a long list. And a lot of people to apologize to." He took a breath then looked Danny dead in the eye. "I'm sorry." He repeated it to Valerie as well. "Whew, that sure felt weird." He shook his body.

"Well, it's a start." Valerie laughed. "So are we ready to do this? We'll take the sample to them and see if they can tell us anything about it. It's better than not trying at all."

Danny sighed. "I suppose it couldn't hurt."

"Am I going too?" Dan pointed at himself.

Danny shifted. He wasn't sure he was ready to explain Dan to his parents.

Valerie nudged him in the side. "If what you said is right, then the last time he saw your parents, they were getting blown up with Jazz and your friends at the Nasty Burger. Maybe seeing them again will give him some kind of, I don't know, closure?"

Danny held back a sigh. Valerie had a point. "Would you like to join us?"

"I-" Dan shifted his weight, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "I suppose I could with you." He huffed like it was a chore for him to agree to go.

"Come if you want." Danny led the way to the laboratory. A smile twitched on his face when Dan followed them.

After he grabbed the container with the ectoplasm sample, they entered the Ghost Zone. Danny had to bring out a map and check for the best location to open the portal. He may have miscalculated somewhat, but they managed to find where his parents and Vlad were staying after some searching.

"Danny!" His mother pulled him into a hug when they entered the room where they were staying. "What are you doing here?"

"Looks like that Fenton X-Acto Portal works like a charm!" His father slapped him on the back.

"Ms. Gray." Vlad bowed his head to her. "And you've brought a new friend." Vlad eyed Dan with great suspicion.

"Ah, yeah, um-" Danny glanced at Dan, who smirked at Vlad's glare. He took a deep breath. "This is Dan." He gestured to him. "To put it simply, he comes from an alternate timeline where my ghost half and Vlad's ghost half merged together, and uh-"

"I destroyed the world," Dan finished

"What?" His mother snatched one of the blasters from its holsters and pointed it at Dan, who immediately shot his hands in the air.

"Danny, why would you bring such a thing here?" his father asked nervously. Vlad sat silently, observing the situation.

"He's not bad anymore," Danny said hurriedly, placing himself before Dan with his hands out.

"It sounds bad, but he's actually here to help us," Valerie said as she glanced to Dan, who was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide his panic. "In his timeline, he watched you die. In a freak accident," she added quickly when Danny's parents turned their gazes to Vlad, "when the Nasty Burger exploded."

"I didn't handle it well," Dan explained. "I had Vlad remove my ghost half, hoping I wouldn't feel the pain from it anymore. And well," he shrugged, still not able to really look at his parents, "that turned out to be a bad idea. But," he held up a finger, "I am reformed now. I'm trying to be better."

His parents still shared some hesitancy about Dan, but his mother lowered her weapon. "I suppose if you can trust him, we can try to too," she said, maybe a little stiffly.

"We didn't really come here to talk about him though." Danny glanced back at Dan then to his parents. "Though it might not hurt for you to talk with Dan some."

"So why did you come here?" Vlad asked, finally speaking up again.

Danny detached the container from his side and held it out for them to see. "We need some advice with this." They stared at the ectoplasm sloshing about in the container before lifting their gazes to him. "It used to be a ghost cat," Danny explained.

"I'd rather not think about that again." Valerie looked a little green.

"Are you going to explain?" Vlad asked dully. "Or should we start making guesses?"

Danny told the story about finding the ghost cat and the odd occurrence of it suddenly dissolving into a pool of ectoplasm. Valerie looked like she was actively trying not to listen to the story. "I've been trying to analyze it to find some kind of explanation for why this happened. Ghosts generally don't just dissolve like that. Something must have happened to it to cause this to happen. I just can't figure out what. With all your research, it seemed like the best idea was to come to you for help."

"I'm glad to see age has given you wisdom." Vlad smirked until his parents shot him glares.

"Danny is very smart," his father stated firmly.

"Can we just not with the insults, Vlad?" Danny asked tiredly. He shot a look at Valerie as if to tell her this was exactly why he didn't want to deal with Vlad.

"Old habits." Vlad shrugged.

"It might take us some time to properly analyze this sample," his mother said. "And I'm guessing you don't have the time to wait around for us to do that."

Danny shook his head, and his mother frowned. "I already planned to have some people over to hang out tonight. So we kind of need to get back soon so I can prepare for that."

She nodded, understanding, and she pulled him into a hug. "Oh, but I've missed you. And Jazz."

"We should plan to stop by for a visit," his father suggested.

"Perhaps when we're finished with our research here," Vlad said.

They stayed for a little while longer, discussing the incident with the ghost cat. His parents seemed to slowly warm up to Dan, but they had little time to have a proper chat. When it was time to go, they said goodbye, and Danny gave his parents hugs. There was some hesitancy on his parents' part, but they eventually gave Dan tentative hugs. On their way back through the Ghost Zone, Dan wore a dopey smile on his face the whole way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. This would have gone up sooner, but I ended up sick for the past week and my brain felt like complete mush.


	18. Chapter 18

Kwan stared up at the house with the giant Fenton Works sign still hanging off the side of it. "This place really hasn't changed," he mused out loud.

"Somewhat," Dash agreed. "They got some new furniture, but it still somehow feels the same." He squinted at the house. "It's weird how that works."

Kwan laughed with a shake of his head. "I guess you did use to come here a lot in high school. Or at least while Jazz was around to tutor you." He grinned while Dash rolled his eyes. "I don't think I really ever came here beyond that one time that ghost kidnapped our parents and Danny kind of led the charge to get them back."

"Hm. I'd almost forgot about that."

Kwan glanced at Dash, raising an eyebrow. It seemed like a pretty memorable memory to him, but they had experienced a lot of different ghost attacks during those four years of high school. He supposed it was easy for some memories to be forgotten over others. "Yeah, but," he grinned, giving Dash a nudge in the ribs with his elbow, "you have to admit. Danny looked pretty awesome. That suit, plus the way he took charge. We didn't really get to see that kind of confidence from him a lot. It was kind of cool."

Dash groaned. "Are you still pushing that?"

"I just think it would good if you talked to him about stuff." Kwan shrugged. "Then you'll at least have some clue about whether he might be feeling anything toward you too."

Dash frowned. "Do you honestly think there's a chance?"

"I wouldn't be encouraging you to talk to him if I thought there was the chance he didn't like you." Kwan folded his arms. "Remember when I told you not to flirt with Kimberly? What happened? She threw her coffee in your face."

Dash winced. "You had to bring _that_ up, didn't you?"

"All I'm trying to say is I don't think you should wait too long to talk to him."

'Yeah, okay. I get it." Dash huffed as he rang the doorbell. "But I'll do it in my own time. Which is definitely not tonight." He pointed a finger in Kwan's face. "So not one word."

Kwan held up his hands but couldn't help laughing. He couldn't recall the last time Dash was nervous to talk to someone he liked. In high school, he always thought of Dash as the king of flirting because he chatted up so many of the girls at their school. If Dash was getting this worried about ruining the relationship he was starting with Danny, Kwan could only think about how much that spoke about his feelings toward Danny.

The door opened, and Danny greeted them with a bright smile. "Hey! Come on in!" He stepped aside to let them into his house. Once they were inside, he quickly closed the door. "Sorry. Make yourself at home. I gotta go check on the steaks!" He darted back down the hall and disappeared into the kitchen.

Kwan grinned. "Maybe you should help him with that." He laughed when Dash gave him a shove and a meaningful glare.

"Are you two planning to stand in the front hall all night?" Valerie asked from the front room.

Dash led the way. Valerie stood near the television while making faces at it. Kwan wasn't quite sure what she was doing, but his attention was immediately caught by something else in the room. Or rather, someone else. Dan's gaze locked on him, and a grin spread across his face.

"What's going on here?" Dash asked, his voice sounding grumpy. Kwan almost couldn't pull his gaze away from Dan but managed a quick glance at Dash. Though his question wasn't directly about Dan, Dash's gaze seemed as focus on him as Kwan's was.

"Oh, is that Dash?"

Kwan and Dash both looked at the television to find Tucker's face staring back at them.

Valerie laughed. "Yeah, he and Kwan just got here."

"Oh, hey, you two." Tucker smiled, but it seemed a bit forced, like he expected Dash to somehow reach through the television to harass him. "I guess that means I should probably get going. You all have stuff you were going to do." He pulled back and lifted a small baby into his arms. "Say bye, bye, Ali." He held her arm to wave it.

Dash shook his head. "I still can't believe it," he murmured, but Kwan didn't think he was loud enough for Tucker to hear.

"She's adorable," Kwan said, finding his voice. "Maybe next time, we can get here sooner and have more time to see her."

"Unfortunately, she does need to get down for her nap." Tucker winced. "We just thought it would be nice to do a quick call beforehand."

"Next time then." Dash nodded.

They all gave their goodbyes then the television screen went black as Tucker ended the call. Valerie picked up the remote controller and flipped it back to regular television then lowered the volume.

"I didn't know we'd have a guest," Dash said, his gaze returning to Dan.

"Yeah, sorry about that!" Danny entered the room. "Steaks are all cooked. I hope medium rare is okay with everyone." He looked around with mild panic in his eyes. "I can always cook them a little longer if not. Oh!" He slapped a hand against Dan's shoulder. "And this is Dan. We met when I was at college in Wisconsin. He decided he wanted to come by for a visit, so he's kind of staying with me for a while."

"His name just happens to be the same as yours?" Dash folded his arms, eying Dan with great suspicion.

"What's odd about that?" Kwan frowned. He hoped this wasn't a bad sign. "Like you've never ran into someone else with the name Colin before?"

"Colin?" Danny repeated, and Valerie tried desperately to hide a snicker behind her hand while a blush crept onto Dash's cheeks.

"Fine! It's not weird at all." Dash huffed.

Danny still had a confused wrinkle in his brow. "Okay," he said slowly. "Well, uh, should we eat?" He turned sideways and gestured to the kitchen.

Danny led the way with Valerie snickering behind him. Dash followed, grumbling as he raked a hand through his slicked back blond hair. Dan hung back, and Kwan felt a nervous flutter inside him at being alone with him. He looked away, tugging on his ear as Dan closed the distance between them with a few long strides.

"Hey," Dan said, kind of soft but kind of awkward. He reached up to rub at his neck. "I guess it's a bit weird meeting like this."

"I would say more unexpected." Kwan chewed on his lip, his palms feeling sweaty. "I kind of thought maybe-" He frowned, lowering his gaze. "I thought maybe we wouldn't see each other again."

"That's my fault." Dan winced when Kwan lifted his gaze. "I don't know how it slipped my mind to ask for your number before I left that night."

Kwan shook his head with a small smile. "I could have asked too. I guess we both dropped the ball on that."

"We won't do that this time." Dan laughed. "I would ask if you wanted to get out of here and do something by ourselves, but I get the feeling you want to hang out here."

"Yeah, a bit." Kwan chuckled. "And we should probably go join everyone."

When they walked into the kitchen, Dash watched Dan with a look of suspicion in his eyes. Kwan swallowed down the lump trying to form in his throat. Was this nice dinner about to turn into a disaster? Kwan cast a glance at Danny as he carried over a large bowl of mashed potatoes to set down in the middle of the table. He didn't want to cause any kind of embarrassing scene.

"So," Kwan said as he took a seat at the table. Dan didn't hesitate to sit down next to him, which earned him a glare from Dash. Valerie also watched Dan, but she didn't glare so obviously in suspicion. "Dan is-" He flicked his gaze to Dan. "This isn't the first time I've met him."

"You already know Dan?" Danny blinked with slightly widened eyes.

"Oh, so he's your mystery man?" Valerie leaned on the table with a smirk.

"The guy who gave you red flags?" Dash frowned.

"I was at least up front about having anger issues in my past," Dan said in a huff. "I may have things I still need to work out. But who I was back then isn't who I am now."

"What I heard about you," Dash sat back as he folded his arms, "didn't paint you in the best light. So you can't blame me for being a little concerned about you hurting my friend. He doesn't need someone in his life that's going to abuse him."

"Dash!" Kwan gasped, a block of ice dropping in his gut.

"I _wouldn't_ hurt him," Dan growled fiercely, glaring darkly at Dash.

"Ah, maybe we should-" Danny said in an awkward attempt to break up what might turn into a fight. On Kwan's other side, Valerie was already tensing, like she was preparing to beat up anyone that tried to start something.

"But," Dash said, loudly speaking over Danny, "since Kwan seems to like you so much, I'm willing to over look those red flags." The tension fizzled out of the room, but Kwan stared at his plate, face burning. "For now. I'm still going to be watching you. And if I see any sign of you hurting him, I'm _not_ going to be quiet about it."

Dan glared. "That's fair enough."

"So," Danny laughed forcibly, "who - who's hungry?"

"This all looks great, Danny," Valerie said, already reaching for the bowl of mashed potatoes.

Kwan relaxed, releasing his breath, but his insides still felt like a nervous jumble. A hand took hold of his own under the table. He glanced over to Dan, who offered him a small smile as he gave the hand a squeeze. That one action did a lot to help calm him. Dash didn't completely hate Dan. He was just being a concerned friend. Kwan knew that concern was valid. He wasn't ignoring that Dan had a violent past. But if he was actively trying to change himself, didn't Dan deserve to be given a chance? After all, Dash's past wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows either, but he had learned to grow from the bully he once was.

"You cut your hair," Kwan said quietly now that he was no longer panicking.

"Oh," Dan laughed, running a hand through his much shorter dark locks, "yeah." He shrugged. "I felt like a change."

Kwan smiled. "I like it. It suits you." Dan beamed.

"This steak," Valerie said after swallowing a bite, "you nailed it."

Danny laughed. "Thanks. I was a little worried there that I was going to overcook it."

Dash grabbed the bowl and scooped up some mashed potatoes onto his plate. "It's hard to go wrong with steak and potatoes."

"It's nothing amazing." Danny winced. "But there was a good deal on steak at the store today, so I decided to go with that."

Kwan added some of the salad onto his plate as his gaze flicked between the two of them. He was tempted to say something, but he promised to keep quiet for Dash. It was frustrating to watch them though. From the outside, Dash and Danny clearly had some kind of attraction to each other. They kept shooting glances at each other whenever they thought no one noticed. Kwan did. When they were at the bar, he saw Dash staring whenever Danny laughed or smile.

"So how did the two of you meet?" Kwan asked as he sliced into his steak. "You said in college. But like, did you have classes together? Did you dorm together?"

Dan glanced Danny's way. "He helped me out with some of my classes," he said, ducking his head as he poked at his mashed potatoes with his fork. "I was not doing so hot, barely keeping up a high enough grade average to not get kicked out. And yeah, a lot of that had to do with me being an angry bastard who did more fighting than studying." He rolled a shoulder. "But Danny tutored me in some my classes, and I guess hanging out with him, some his goody two shoes attitude rubbed off on me. Started feeling like maybe I was worth something, so I've been making an effort to change since then."

"I was hesitant at first," Danny admitted, his eyes flicked briefly to Dash, but Kwan managed to catch the movement. "But I believe in giving people second chances. Dan wasn't easy to work with at first, but things turned out all right in the end."

"You were a tutor?" Dash asked, his eyebrows lifting in surprise.

"Why do you say it like that?" Danny frowned.

Dash almost choked on his steak as he waved a hand. "No, I mean, I just always think of Jazz as the tutor."

Valerie reached over and bumped her elbow into Danny's arm. "I know you're smart, but based on freshmen year, you weren't fully applying yourself yet. If I recall, you were failing pretty badly in some classes." She smiled, clearly teasing him.

Danny's cheeks were burning as he shot Valerie a look of betrayal. "Freshmen year wasn't a good time for me. I had a lot going on. I got my act together by the end of the year though."

Dash's mouth twitched, but he put on a neutral expression as he turned to Dan. "So are you working?"

"Ah, I'm kind of between jobs right now." Dan shifted in his seat. "And since I'm not currently working, I thought it was the perfect time to come visit my old friend."

Visit. The word left a bitter taste in Kwan's mouth. "How long will you be staying here?"

"Oh, uh," Dan winced, "I didn't have a plan for how long. But I've been liking it here so far." He grinned, maybe trying to reassure Kwan. "So maybe I'll stay."

"The ghosts don't bother you?" Dash watched him curiously before tearing a chunk of steak from his fork.

Dan shrugged. "They don't seem that scary. Besides, you have those hero people that stop the ghosts and all that. It kind of makes this place seem exciting."

"At least you're not a coward." Valerie picked up her drink, and with a smirk, she took a sip.

"So I know we did movies last week," Danny said, "and I didn't know if you all wanted to do that again this time. I have movies we can watch, but I have some games too, if we wanted to play them." He looked around the table, his gaze lingering mostly on Dan and Valerie. "It's just a suggestion, of course. If anyone objects, I'll remember not to suggest games again."

Dash shrugged. "I don't mind a little virtual butt kicking."

"Games do sound like they'd be fun," Kwan agreed.

"They've never really been my thing," Valerie said, "but I guess I can try it out. Maybe they'll be fun."

They talked about which game they should start off with while they finished off the rest of their dinner. Kwan wanted to learn more about Dan, but he was kind of relieved to have the conversation move to a different topic. With his friends asking the questions, it felt more like they were interrogating Dan. He, at least, handled the questioning well.

When they finished eating, they piled the dishes into the sink. Kwan offered to help clean them up, but Danny refused the help, saying he would do them later.

"I invited you over to eat and enjoy a night of games or movies. I didn't invite you over to do dishes." Danny laughed as he ushered Kwan into the front room.

"He's always like that," Dash said in a teasing tone.

"Oh, shut up." Kwan rolled his eyes at Dash's grin.

Kwan took a seat on the couch, sandwiched between Dan and Valerie, while Danny set up his video game console to load up the game. It was a fun night, and even Valerie seemed to enjoy playing. Kwan tried not to smirk too much while watching Dash and Danny compete with each other. Kwan never really cared for competitive play, but even if he wasn't the best player out of all of them, he still had fun with it.


	19. Chapter 19

"You really didn't have to stay and help out," Danny said as he scrubbed the pot he used for the mashed potatoes clean. He glanced over to Dash, who finished loading up the dishwasher.

Dash shrugged. "It seemed like Kwan wanted to get the chance to have some time alone with Dan. So I thought I could just hang back for a bit."

Danny shook his head as he rinsed out the pan then set it aside to dry. "Yeah, I got that feeling too." He was skeptical at first. Dan? Liking someone? It sounded ridiculous! But seeing them together tonight, Danny realized how wrong he was to think that. But it still came as a huge shock to him.

"Fenton-"

Danny stopped drying his hands to look at Dash. "Hm? What?"

Dash opened his mouth then turned to leaned against the counter. His brow furrowed. He scratched at the back of his head.

"Uh, is everything okay?" Danny glanced around in uncertainty.

"Okay. Look." Dash turned on him, and Danny tensed instinctively. "I need to know something. I've messed up in the past and ruined relationships. Kwan is my best friend. He's been my best friend since forever. And I don't want to ruin things with him like I did with Paulina. I mean. Yeah, she just called, and we made up, but we lost a lot of time of being friends. I can't go through that with Kwan. Losing him as a friend would be like - like losing a limb! So I'm really trying here. But I need to know." He stopped to take a breath, holding Danny's gaze. "Is there any chance, even a small one, that Dan is going to hurt Kwan?"

Danny blinked, struggling to keep up with Dash's rapid speech. "Okay." He laughed, reaching out to place a hand on Dash's shoulder. "Take a breath." A smile pulled at his mouth. "Do you think I would let him anywhere near Kwan if I thought he was going to hurt him?" He was glad he talked out a story for them to use with Dan before having the dinner. It seemed Dash and Kwan believed the story of how he and Dan met.

Dash leaned back, turning his gaze away. "It's just hard to trust and be okay after hearing about his violent past." He met Danny's gaze, and his mouth pursed. "Yeah, I get it. Pot meet kettle." He sighed out heavily. "Okay. I'm just going let it go. Or try to."

"I get being worried. It's not always easy to trust someone after hearing that they used to be pretty violent."

Dash sighed, moving to lean against the counter again. "Okay. Let's hash this out. Because it's just going to be the giant elephant in the room until we do."

"Dash, what-"

"I know you can't be as all right as you're acting about me." The sharp look in Dash's blue eyes made Danny shift uncomfortably. "I was horrible to you. I made your life hell. You don't just get over that. I know that. I know that well. You think you've let it go, but it's still there. Lingering. So," he held his arms out wide, "say it. Whatever you've always wanted to yell at me all those times I bullied you, say it now."

"Dash, that's not-"

Dash shook his head. "I need to hear it from you as much as you need to say it. I turned my life around just the same as what Dan's trying to do. It took me a long time to become a more mature person. And I never apologized for my behavior." He frowned, staring at the floor with his brow knitted. "I should have done that. I should have said it right when we saw each other again. I was a coward for not saying anything." He lifted his head, stared Danny straight in the eyes, and released a huff. "I'm sorry for all that shit I put you through in high school. I shouldn't have taken things out on you, but I didn't know how deal with things that well back then. That doesn't excuse my actions. I'm sorry."

Danny was too taken aback to respond, and not just because of Dash's words but because of the sincerity in his eyes. "Dash, I wasn't looking for an apology."

"That doesn't mean it didn't need to be said." Dash pointed a finger at him. "And you still haven't said anything. I promise you can say whatever you want and I won't get mad. I most likely deserve whatever you dish out."

"Oh, well, um." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. He certainly didn't expect this turn in the conversation. His gaze flicked to Dash, who waited patiently, then away again. "This is all a bit weird. I mean, I did kind of put all of that behind me already. I don't hate you. Not now, anyway. In high school," he shook his head, "it was weird. Every time you bullied me, shoved me into a locker, called me names, yeah, I was mad about that. I hated when you did that. I hated you, and at the same time, I didn't."

"What?" Dash tilted his head, brow knitting as his eyes clouded.

"Like I said, it was weird." Danny sighed. "I hated all those horrible things you did, but I also admired you. You were popular. Even the teachers and parents loved you. You were strong and athletic. I mean, you were a _freshman_ when you got to be the star quarterback for the football team. Most people would have to wait until like junior or senior year. They don't just start out as the quarterback. And," he looked away, "I guess that also made me jealous of you. And yeah, I get that all those things are just kind of superficial. I didn't really know you or anything about you. And yeah, maybe wanting to be your friend was just a selfish desire to become popular by association. But I was an awkward teenager trying to figure out where I belonged." He took a deep breath then met Dash's eyes again. "I guess, one thing I've always wanted an answer to is: Why me? Why were so you fixated on bullying me?"

Dash ducked his head. "A lot of it was misdirected anger. Why you specifically?" He let out a long breath. "Honestly? I think jealousy. I didn't recognize it back then, but later on, I came to that realization."

Danny laughed, more out of awkwardness than because he found anything Dash said funny. "Jealous? Of me? Why?" He racked his mind over the confession, but it made no sense to him. How could Dash ever be jealous of him?

"I was pretty surprised when I realized it myself." Dash's mouth twitched. "Your family."

"My," Danny scratched at his head, "family?" What was Dash getting at? Why would Dash be jealous of him because of his family?

Dash sighed, shifting against the counter, as his face pinched up, like he was having a difficult time answering the question. "I know your parents were weird. Before we knew anything about ghosts being a real thing, they sounded pretty crazy."

"Yes, insults." Danny folded his arms. "That definitely makes me feel better and less confused."

"I'm getting to it." Dash raked his hand through his hair, mussing up his slicked back locks. "Yes, they seemed weird. But they clearly loved you and Jazz. They always took care of you and wanted to protect you from harm. They were supportive of you. I," he scowled at the floor, "didn't always get that growing up. So when I saw you with your family, it made me mad."

Danny's eyes widened, the implications of Dash's words hitting him like a sack of bricks to the face. Then his expression softened. "Dash, I - I never knew."

"I made it a point to keep people from knowing." Dash's voice turned cold and clipped.

Danny swallowed. He knew better than to press a topic like that. "I'm sorry."

Dash shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I should get going."

"Oh." Danny lowered his gaze. "Okay." He walked with Dash toward the front door.

"You know," Dash said, standing on the front step. "I talked to Paulina earlier this week."

"Oh?" Danny lifted an eyebrow, confused by this new topic. Why was Dash bringing up Paulina? "Uh, how is she?"

"She sounds good." Dash nodded. Then he reached up, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked anywhere but at Danny. "She mentioned coming back to here for a visit."

"That sounds good." Danny still couldn't understand why Dash was talking to him about this. A crease appeared in his brow as he tried to puzzle out this mystery.

"Yeah." Dash smiled fondly. "I haven't seen her in a while." He jerked his gaze back to Danny. "I may have told that you've been hanging out with us. And she," he hunched up his shoulders, "asked if you were cute."

Danny blinked wide eyes. Was Dash trying to tell him Paulina was interested in him? "Oh." His stomach dropped. "Uh, did she?" He sounded lame! He wanted to smack himself in the face for sounding so stupid. But how was he supposed to respond to that? If they were still in high school, he would be ecstatic to hear that Paulina was asking about him. But they weren't in high school any more, and he had outgrown his crush on Paulina years ago.

"Yeah." Dash shifted his weight. "Well, I guess I should get going."

"Right." Danny bobbed his head. After some awkward goodbyes, he closed the front door. He groaned as he pressed his forehead against the door. Up until the end, he thought everything was going well. They were talking and getting along. Then everything had to take a shift, that ruined what they were starting to build.

After another minute, he pushed away from the door then walked into the front room. Dash helped to clean up most of the junk left in the room, but there was still some trash scattered on the table. Danny gathered up what was left and carried it to the kitchen trash can to throw away.

It was already late, but Dan hadn't returned from walking Kwan home. Danny couldn't say that surprised him. Dan had eagerly awaited the chance to meet Kwan again. Danny suspected Dan would try to spend as much time with Kwan as possible before saying goodnight. He rolled his eyes. They had exchanged phone numbers, so they could talk whenever they wanted.

Danny glanced around the kitchen. Somehow, after tonight, it felt a lot lonelier. He didn't think much about it when he moved back in and his parents left with Vlad for their big research trip. But now he was thinking about when he was still in high school. It was like he could see the ghost of his parents and Jazz all around the kitchen. The house was filled with too many memories from growing up. He never pictured himself living here, again, alone. After the whole awkward ordeal at the end there with Dash, the emptiness of the house just felt more pronounced.

Shaking his head, Danny transformed. He flew out of the house and soared into the night sky. He breathed in deeply and exhaled. It felt good to fly. When he was up here, he could forgot about everything. He didn't have to think about the empty house or Dash turning weird or some unknown threat that apparently made ghosts dissolve into pools of ectoplasm. He could just be, with the night air washing over him.

But what could make a ghost dissolve like that? Danny frowned as he scanned the town below. The Guys in White hadn't been to Amity Park in years, and they weren't smart enough to figure out something like that. Could another ghost have done it? He hadn't heard of a ghost with an ability like that, but he couldn't entirely rule that out as a possibility. If it was a ghost hunter, they were very good at keeping a low profile. Danny hadn't noticed anything too out of the ordinary.

After he made a loop around town, Danny decided it was time to return home. He turned around, taking his time, when something boomed through the air. The pressure from the pulse made his ears ache, like when he descended too quickly from a great height. His head split. Without warning, he plummeted to the ground. Danny flailed his arms out, trying to summon up the power to fly. He hit a tree branch, or several, on his way down then crashed into the ground with a grunt. Weakly, and wheezing, Danny pushed himself onto his hands and knees. Everything hurt, and if he wasn't still in ghost form, he didn't think he would have survived that fall. Standing up, he hugged an arm around his body. His ribs hurt. He was lucky they were probably only bruised and not broken.

"What happened?" he mumbled as he a look around the area where he fell. Everything was dark. His eyes darted from building to building to the lamps along the street. The power was out. Whatever that booming pulse was, it had knocked out the power with it.

Danny hopped. With a frown, he glanced down at his hands. He concentrated, deep lines forming in his brow. The electrical power wasn't the only thing that wasn't working. His ghost powers didn't seem to work either. His mouth thinned. But it hadn't forced him to change back. His healing wasn't effected either. Already, his ribs ached less. Danny hurried to find a place out of sight. When he was safely hidden, he transformed back. Or tried to. Nothing happened. He remained as Phantom. This was a problem. 

Danny hunkered down where he was hidden. Pulling out his phone, he sent a quick text to Valerie.

[Did you feel that?]

[ _Feel what?_ ]

Danny frowned at his phone.

[That pulse just now.]

[ _What r u talking about?_ ]

Danny peeked out from his hiding spot. The streetlights flickered on, and windows from the buildings around him lit up. Valerie didn't feel anything. Was that a localized power out? Shit! He missed the opportunity to map out the affected area. He dropped his gaze to his phone and sighed.

[I'll tell you later.]

He pocketed his phone then waited, testing his powers every now and again until they worked. When he could finally turn invisible again, he left his hiding spot and flew home.


	20. Chapter 20

"I can't believe you know Danny." Kwan shook his head with an amused smile pulling at his mouth. It was rather shocking to walk into Danny's house and find Dan there. A part of him almost considered giving up on the idea that he would ever see Dan again. Amity Park might not be some giant city, but it was still large enough that it was possible to not bump into every person living there.

"Why's that?" Dan frowned with his hands stuffed into his pockets as he walked along beside Kwan.

"Oh, just," Kwan bit his lip, his stomach twisting, "I guess I just wouldn't have pictured you and Danny as friends."

Dan snorted a laugh. "I'm not sure he would use the term friends." He smirked like he found something in that comment amusing.

Kwan's brow formed a mild crease. "So how would you classify your relationship?"

"Hm." Dan folded his arms as he thought. "Well, we started out as tutor and tutee." He paused to scratch his head. "Is that even a word? Tutee? It sounds dumb."

Kwan laughed. "I don't think most people use it."

"Right." Dan shrugged. "I wouldn't have thought we'd become friends. I mean, I was a bit of a bastard, and Danny's such a good guy it's almost sickening."

"Oh." Kwan winced, lowering his gaze. He always tried his best to be a good person. In high school, he hated whenever he was expected to bully someone just because he was a jock. He didn't want to hurt people, and he didn't like making them feel bad.

"Shit." Dan pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's not - I'm not trying to say being a good guy is a bad thing. It's just at that time, when he was tutoring me in the beginning, he was almost nauseating to be around because of how good he acted all the time. But," he sighed, shaking his head, "maybe that's just because it was like a huge reminder of how bad a person I was. I didn't like having it in my face all the time." Then he grinned at Kwan. "But that's not how I am anymore. Though I do still get a kick out of annoying Danny every once and a while."

Kwan relaxed, the tension melting out of his shoulders. "So you don't hate that I'm a good guy?"

"Not one bit." The grin widened, and Kwan ducked his head as heat danced upon his cheeks. "So," Dan scratched at his right temple, "your friends aren't planning to beat me up or anything, are they?"

Kwan glanced out the side of his eye at Dan. Somehow, he got the feeling that Dan wasn't really that intimidated at the idea. "Dash was just being concerned. We have a friend who recently had a pretty bad breakup with a guy he got bad vibes from. I think he's just being overly cautious about you because of that. And the whole thing about you being pretty violent in the past. He'll get over it. I think."

"I think I'd be more worried about Valerie." Dan laughed loudly, and Kwan couldn't help a small laugh of his own.

"Did Danny tell you some stories?" The corner of Kwan's mouth curled upward. Most people who met Valerie for the first time probably wouldn't think of her as very strong; intimidating though if they managed to make her mad. But people who knew her best knew she could make men twice her size cry without break a sweat.

"He may have told a few tales."

Kwan glanced up at his apartment when they reached it. "So," he hesitated, his stomach churning as he looked away from Dan, "are you really just staying here for a visit?"

"Well, the idea was that I'd come by to see Danny for a bit and then head out." Dan ran a hand through his hair as he stared up at the apartment building. The new hair cut had such a change on his appearance that Kwan frequently caught himself staring. Dan just had this way of drawing Kwan's attention. "But I think I have a reason to stay now."

When Dan turned his smirk on him, Kwan's face burned hotly. "Would I be your only reason for staying?"

"Best reason I can think of." Dan folded his arms, eying Kwan curiously. "A job's a job. I can get one anywhere, and since I currently don't have one, it's not tying me down to one place. So if I like someone, why not stick around so I can see where this whole thing might lead us? Amity Park has been a pretty good place so far." He nodded his head curtly.

"Well, when you say it like that." Kwan laughed. "Plus I hear long distance relationships are a pain."

"Oh, definitely," Dan agreed. "So you only moved back here recently?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Kwan shrugged. "I was working out in Seattle, but it just wasn't a real fit for me."

"What did you do?"

"Just, you know," Kwan waved off the question, "tech stuff mostly. I was still pretty low on the ladder, so it was mostly like doing what my boss told me to do. I didn't really get any freedom to come up with my own stuff."

Dan wrinkled his nose. "Sounds like a drag."

"Yeah." Kwan sighed. "At first, I thought I would be doing good stuff. Like, you know, working on stuff that was going to change the world. In a good way. That was kind of how the company advertised itself anyway. That kind of cheesy line like 'building a better tomorrow, today!' That's what I wanted to do. Use my abilities for making people's lives better."

"That's not what they were doing?"

"I can't really speak for the whole company." Kwan frowned. "But-" He shook his head. "No, it's silly."

"Whatever it is, I promise I won't laugh."

When he lifted his gaze, Kwan was met with a serious look burning in Dan's blue eyes. "Okay. Well, I guess it always kind of felt to me like the higher ups cared more about profit than helping people. I mean, the guy I worked for at the beginning was always yelling at me if I tried to make his projects even the tiniest bit more efficient. Because 'how are we supposed to get people to keep buying it if it actually works?' He never actually said that, but that's what it felt like he was trying to say whenever he yelled at me. I'm not really sure what happened. One day I came to work, and they told me I would be working in a new department. That was fine."

"You sound pretty strained there." Dan's brow drew together. "Because it doesn't like it was fine."

"I don't really know how to describe it." Kwan tugged at his ear as he tried to put his thoughts into words. Since returning to Amity Park, he had tried not to think about it much. "I just got bad vibes from my new boss. It felt like she was willing to do whatever to achieve her goals. Even putting people in harm's way."

"Did she hurt you?"

Kwan almost stepped back at the intensity that flared up in Dan's eyes.

Dan jerked back, guilt replacing that intense look. "Sorry," he mumbled, turning his head away.

Kwan reached out to place a hand on Dan's arm. "Like I said, it was just a vibe. But when it wouldn't go away, I felt like I really couldn't work there anymore. So I ended up coming back here. And," he sighed, "working for my parents. That sounds kind of lame. But at least it's a guaranteed job until I find something I actually want to do."

Dan shook his head. "That's not lame."

Kwan rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm glad you think so." His gaze flicked toward his apartment building, and he sighed. "I guess it's gotten pretty late."

Dan nodded, disappointment written all over his face. "Would it be okay to kiss you?"

Kwan hesitated. He couldn't help feeling a bit silly. He enjoyed being around Dan and talking with him, and they clearly had an attraction to one another. But some part of him still felt it was wise to be cautious, to get to know Dan more. Kwan stepped forward and leaned in, placing a light kiss on Dan's cheek. "Good night, Dan."

Dan touched his cheek, stunned, when Kwan stepped back. "Are you free tomorrow?"

"Work." Kwan almost laughed at Dan's pout. "But you have my number now. We can talk about plans for later."

Dan nodded. "Good night, Kwan."

With their goodbyes said, Kwan headed into the building. He glanced back before closing the door. Dan smiled and gave a wave before he turned to walk down the street. Kwan returned the smile as he closed the door. He leaned back against the door, sighing out while still smiling. He couldn't remember the last time someone gave him that butterflies in his stomach feeling. Maybe the few times he dated Valerie freshmen year? But they quickly realized they were better off as friends.

Kwan hurried up to his apartment. Once inside, he flipped on the lights then walked over to the couch. He reached out to turn on the lamp sitting on the table next to the couch. The bulb turned on with a bright flash then popped. Kwan jerked his hand back, stumbling back a step as he covered his eyes. They stung like last time. He lost his footing, hitting the ground on his side. His elbow banged against the flooring, sending a jolt of pain shooting up his arm. He took a gasping breath and choked, the taste of smoke filling his mouth and clogging his lungs.

Minutes passed before he dared to crack open his eyes. The lights were still on in his apartment, but the lamp by the couch was out. He pushed himself into a sitting position. His elbow throbbed dully, but the stinging in his eyes had faded. Slowly, he relocated to the couch, crashing onto it with a tired sigh. That little incident had effectively ruined his good mood.

What was that? Kwan rubbed at his eyes.

His phone buzzed, making him jump. He pulled it from his pocket and laughed at the messages from Dan.

[ _Just wanted to say good night. Again_.]

[ _It's too soon. Isn't it?_ ]

[ _Sorry_.]

Shaking his head, Kwan typed out a quick message, hoping that he made it back to Danny's house safely. Then he set the phone down beside him on the couch. Even though his eyes weren't stinging anymore, they still bothered him. He blinked a few times and rubbed at his eyes, but the feeling didn't go away. Maybe he should call it an early night, though it was already getting pretty late. He didn't move right away, staring blankly at the wall ahead of him. His apartment still smelled thickly of smoke even though nothing was burning. The lamp bulb shattered but thankfully didn't set anything on fire.

Kwan may not have been completely honest when he told Dan about why he left his old job. How could he tell Dan that he had been experiencing weird moments like this? He couldn't even get up the nerve to mention it to Dash or Valerie. It had nothing to do with ghosts, as far as he knew. It all started back in Seattle. Frowning, he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Stop it," he muttered, pushing back to memory before it could resurface. He didn't want to think about it. HIs back ached as he stood. It wasn't a sharp pain but a dull sort of soreness. He placed a hand to his back. Even though he couldn't feel it, he knew it was there. Whenever he changed in front of the mirror, he avoided looking at his back. "Maybe I should talk to Dash about it."

For some reason, the thought sent cold dread settling in his gut. He didn't understand why he would feel nervous about talking to Dash when he knew he could tell Dash anything. There were times in the past when he was scared to discuss some stuff, such as when he came to the realization that he liked men way more than women. At that time, he feared Dash would hate him for not being completely straight. Dash trying to pressure an answer out of him only made things worse, and Kwan ended up not talking to him for a while. When he finally got up the courage to tell Dash, it was a huge relief to blurt out the truth to him. Afterward, he waited fearfully for Dash's rage, but instead, he was met with Dash drawing him into a big hug. Kwan almost cried with relief to know Dash didn't hate him. If he could brave telling Dash about his sexuality, he could certainly tell Dash about what happened to him.

Kwan started to head for the bathroom to wash up for the night when his phone buzzed against the couch cushion. A smile spread onto his face, and the pain faded. He grabbed the phone, eager to read Dan's text. But when he read it, the smile quickly flipped into a frown.

[ _Mr. Long, I understand you have decided to leave our company, but I would like to implore that you reconsider. I would hate to see your talents go to waste when there is still so much good we can do together_.]

Kwan ground his teeth as he deleted the message. It wasn't the first time he received a message like that from his old employer. He threw his phone back onto the couch then stomped toward the bathroom.


	21. Chapter 21

"Why are we meeting here?" Valerie landed on the chunk of earth floating in the Ghost Zone.

"It was Dan's idea." Danny joined her then looked up at the lair. "He wanted to show us what he's been up to." He had expected something grander, perhaps, when Dan suggested they meet at his new lair. But it ended up being a rather simple looking brick building that Danny would expect to find somewhere in downtown Amity Park. If not for the ghostly hue. Above the door hung a simple sign reading Dan's name in bolded lettering.

"Should I be worried about this?" Valerie folded her arms.

"Let's just go inside." Danny grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her along with him as he headed for the entrance. When they entered, he was stunned to see the amount of ghosts filling what he thought was a small building. It was far larger on the inside with rows of seating in a U shape around a boxing ring. It was packed up with ghosts shouting and cheering as two ghosts fought within the ring. A few other ghosts were at the punching bags hanging along another side of the room.

"I was not expecting this," Valerie mumbled as she removed his helmet. "Dan did this?"

"Not just me," Dan said, popping up behind them.

Danny jumped with a jolt. "Would you-" He snapped then sighed. "Oh, never mind."

Dan smirked. "I got Skulker to help me out with setting stuff up, and Ember helped tell other ghosts about it. And it turns out there are a few ghosts that were boxers in real life, so they've been helping out to teach us proper boxing techniques. I think they're really enjoying this."

"Impressive." Danny nodded, still looking around at the gym. When he suggested the idea to Dan, he never imagined it would be this popular with the other ghosts.

"I have to agree." Valerie nudged her elbow into Danny's side. "I guess you're capable of good ideas."

"Hey!"

Dan smirked at Danny's protest. "It's probably an even better idea than he realized. Now I have a good outlet for some of my anger and need to punch things. But it can be my new obsession, which means Kwan won't be an obsession." He frowned, scratching his head. "Unless a ghost can have two obsessions."

"What?" Valerie snapped his head around to Danny.

"You know," Danny flinched back from her, "ghosts have obsessions."

"You had to know Vlad's obsession was pretty much with mom," Dan said. His eyes widened, and he immediately corrected himself. "Danny's mom."

Danny stared at him for the curious slip up. It shouldn't be surprising that Dan would think of his mother as mom. Technically, she was his mother, just from a different timeline. But Danny had never heard him refer to her that way.

"Yeah," Valerie mumbled, "I mean, I guess I knew that. It's just weird to hear you refer to Kwan as an obsession." A shudder ran through her.

"And since I'm half Vlad," Dan folded his arms, "I fully understand why having a person be my obsession is a bad idea. A very bad idea. It was creepy and unhealthy. That's not the kind of relationship I want to have with Kwan. So this," he gestured around at the gym with his hand, "is a better obsession."

"That's a relief to know." Valerie still looked like she was ready to punch him. "Because if you started acting like past Vlad did with Danny's mom to Kwan, I would kick your butt." Then she pointed her finger in Danny's face. "And yours too."

Danny gulped. "That's fair."

"So now that we've cleared that up, what exactly was this meeting all about?"

Danny stared at Dan for a brief moment before the reason hit him. "Oh, right! Do you have a quieter place here where we can talk?" Seeing the boxing gym distracted him to the point of forgetting all about the important news he had to share with them.

Dan turned and led the way past the crowd of ghosts enjoying the gym. He opened a door into a smaller room then walked around a desk to take a seat in a cushy chair, throwing his feet up on the desk. "All right. Talk."

Danny rolled his eyes, closing the door after them. At least the room blocked out all the noise from the main room of the gym. "Something weird happened last night."

"You realized you've been in love with Dash since high school?" Dan smirked as Danny glowered at him.

"Wait." Valerie turned to him, her eyes growing wide. "Do you like Dash?"

"I - I don't know!" Danny blurted out, flustered as heat bloomed across his cheeks. "I mean, yeah, he's gotten hotter since high school. And yes," he hissed, scowling at Dan before he could say a word, "I thought he was hot in high school. But I also thought Kwan was cute." He rolled one shoulder, trying to act like the admission wasn't a big deal.

"Wow." Valerie grinned as she leaned toward him. "I never thought you would like Dash. Is that why he stayed back last night?"

The heat crept to his ears. "Hey!" Danny shouted. "We didn't come here to talk about Dash!" He huffed in heavy pants.

"Okay." Valerie patted him on the arm, but the grin didn't leave her face. "So what are we here to talk about?"

Danny sighed as he rubbed his head. "So last night, I went out on a patrol after Dash left. And then, right when I was going to give up for the night and go home, there was this sudden pulse." His brow furrowed as he replayed the whole event again in his head.

"That's what you mentioned when you texted me." Valerie frowned, the amusement leaving her eyes.

"Yeah, I don't know what exactly it was. The troubling part is that when it hit, it canceled out my ghost powers."

"What?" Valerie gasped.

Dan sat up straight, all serious now. "No ghost can do that."

Danny shook his head. "I certainly haven't heard of one that can. I've only ever lost my powers when Vlad was involved." He folded his arms. "And this definitely wasn't him. I'm just glad it didn't force me to transform where people could see me."

"So we can probably assume that whoever is behind the pulse is probably human," Valerie said, drumming her fingers against her bicep as she pondered this information with her arms folded. "But who in Amity Park would be capable of something like that? I suppose some of our employees might have the ability to make something like that, but I have difficulty believing any of them could be behind it. And the pulse wasn't felt throughout Amity Park, which means the area of effect couldn't be too wide. It would be best if you knew the exact area that the pulse affected, but I suppose we'll have to just check around where you were when it happened."

Danny sighed. "Yeah, sorry. I guess I just assumed it hit the whole town. But without my ghost powers, I couldn't really get around fast enough to check the area. The lights came back on too quickly."

"Whatever." Dan shrugged. "So it'll be a bit harder. But we can still look around and hunt down the source of that pulse thing."

"You say that like it'll be easy." Danny frowned.

"Uh, yeah," Dan pointed at himself with both index fingers, "ghost."

"Just because you can sneak into places unseen doesn't mean you'll find whatever it was that caused that pulse," Valerie pointed out with a dry stare. "Would you even know what to look for?"

Dan huffed, frowning. "I'm not a complete moron." He folded his arms, very nearly pouting. "But I get it." He threw his hands into the air. "I was stuck in the Thermos for fourteen years. Any tech knowledge I have is woefully outdated."

"Scouting isn't a bad idea though," Danny said, trying not to wince at the mention of the Thermos. "If all he's doing is taking a look around, then he can just report to us if he found anything that might be suspicious. It would at least be some kind of a lead. And if we're busy with work, well, he doesn't have anything else to do during the day." He shrugged as he turned to Valerie.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Valerie mumbled thoughtfully.

"Great! Then it's settled." Dan stood. "You two can be boring with your jobs. I'll do the real work on this case."

Danny stared flatly, but he decided it was better not to argue. He was far too tired. "Just remember that it's a scouting mission. Do not engage with anyone. And don't reveal yourself."

Dan rolled his eyes. "Aren't supposed to trust me?"

Danny sighed. "I know. But you tend to be of the hit things first mindset."

"Fair point." Dan shrugged.

"Should we tell Vlad about this?" Valerie asked.

Danny winced. "They are busy with analyzing that sample we gave them. And yes, I realize Vlad might have insight on a device that can negate a ghost's powers. Though his device had to actually touch me to work. But I think we can handle searching the area for the device without his help."

"He could help us figure out something that will protect you and Dan from being hit by that again." Valerie frowned.

"Are you two going to argue about this again?" Dan yawned, feigning boredom. "We don't need to run to Vlad for everything."

"I don't think we need to run to Vlad for everything," Valerie argued, shooting a glare at him.

"It does tend to the first suggestion from you."

"That's not true!"

Dan barked out a laugh, throwing back his head. "In my timeline, you didn't need Vlad's help for anything. You could kick ass by yourself. Enough so that even I thought you were a huge threat. And you didn't need some fancy suit embedded inside you to do it either." He folded his arms, grinning like a cat that ate the canary.

"Dan," Danny said warningly, his gaze flicking quickly to Valerie.

"Maybe," Valerie put herself right in front of Dan, glaring daggers at him, "I didn't have to become such a bad ass this time around because I didn't have to deal with your obnoxious ass trying to destroy everything. Your version of me didn't have the pressure of running an entire company with a bunch of old farts just waiting for me to fail so they can be like, 'ah, see? She was far too young to be put in such an important position,' and try to get me removed."

"You really think that?" Danny felt a pang of guilt. He never realized the amount of pressure Valerie put on herself as the head of Axiom Labs.

"Of course she does." Dan huffed like it should have been obvious. "But she shouldn't. All of those 'old farts,' as you put it, don't even come close to the capabilities that you have. Vlad may be a lot of things, even a massive idiot, but he wouldn't have left you in charge if he thought for a second you couldn't handle it. So stop putting yourself down and thinking you need Vlad's help for anything. You are the strongest woman I have ever known. You make those old farts regret ever thinking you're anything less than an absolutely amazing woman."

"Yeah," Valerie agreed with a fierceness in her voice that actually made Danny worry she would planned on punching everyone who worked at Axiom Labs. "You're right! They don't even know half of what I'm capable of doing. Mostly because no one really knows I'm the Red Huntress outside of us, Danny's family and friends, Vlad, and all the ghosts. I could leave those weaklings crying with just my pinkie alone."

"Well," Danny smiled awkwardly, "I guess that was a rather inspiring speech."

"I fought against her for ten years." Dan shrugged. "Even as an asshole, I can still pick up a thing or two about a person."

"Look." Valerie turned to Danny. "I'm sorry I keep bringing him up. I guess when the doubts from work start setting in, I start feeling like a teen in need of adult guidance again. Which I realize is a bit silly." Her cheeks darkened.

Danny shook his head. "I'm sorry I never realized that was how you were feeling."

Valerie waved him off. "That's because I didn't want you to know. It was kind of embarrassing to feel like that."

"Great. Glad we have that all cleared up." Dan smiled proudly as he glanced between them. "But what's the plan now? Do we go talk to Vlad or not?"

Valerie looked thoughtful for a moment. "No, we can look out for that device on our own. You two," she pointed at them, "will just have to be on alert. We don't want that thing going off and messing with Dan's powers while he's searching."

Dan winced. "Yeah, that would be bad."

"I could try to whip up something to counter it," Danny suggested, "but I won't have any way to really test it."

"Best to try doing whatever you can. If it doesn't work, we'll have to figure out something else." Valerie stretched her arms. "Now who's hungry? Because I know I am."

"I think I'm going to hang out around here a bit longer," Dan said. "I haven't gotten my go in the ring yet today."

"We'll see you later then." Danny waved as he and Valerie headed out of the gym. "I'm glad this idea is working out so well for him."

"Yeah." Valerie turned to him as her helmet snapped into place. "Because if he became all creepy obsessed with Kwan like Vlad did with your mom, I'd have to cram you," she jabbed her finger into his chest, "into the Thermos."

Danny laughed uneasily. "Which is another reason I thought the gym would be a good idea." He remained tensed as Valerie stared at him through the visor of her helmet. He was certain she was glaring murder at him. When she finally turned away and hopped onto her speed board, he released his breath.


	22. Chapter 22

Dash knocked on the doorframe as he stuck his head into the office. "You wanted to see me, boss?"

She lifted head, adjusting her glasses. Mrs. Wilson was at least fifty years old, but she only had a few lines to show her age. She kept her black hair tied back and out of her face. Dash was used to seeing a stern expression on that face, but when she spotted him, her usually pinched expression brightened.

"Ah, Dash!" Mrs. Wilson tapped some papers on her desk, straightening them before she set them aside. "The top reporter I was waiting for."

Dash eyed her hesitantly. He stepped into the office. "I'm almost finished with that story you wanted."

"Oh, yes, of course." She waved him off as she searched her desk for something. From the way she dressed and presented herself, Dash always thought she was a well organized woman. But her desk was practically a disaster zone, littered in papers. How she ever found anything, he had no idea. "I look forward to reading it. Aha!" She plucked a yellow sticky note from the corner of her desk. "I have a new story for you to run down."

Dash's brow knitted as he crossed the office and stepped up to her desk. "A new story?"

"Yup." Mrs. Wilson held the sticky note out to him. "This is the address. They wanted you specifically."

"Me?" Dash frowned as he took the sticky note to read over the address.

"I guess they wanted to best we had." Mrs. Wilson shrugged. "I haven't heard of the lady I spoke with on the phone. She wasn't exactly forthcoming with information. You better bring me back a good story." Her mouth thinned as she leveled a stern stare at him. "I would hate for this to be a waste of time."

"Yeah," Dash agreed, still staring at the address. Then he jerked his gaze up. "I'll get right on this." He waved the sticky note. "Was there anything else?"

"That was the only thing." Mrs. Wilson glanced about her desk, like she was making sure she hadn't forgotten something in the mess. "But be sure to have that other story finished by the end of the day."

Dash nodded. "It just needs a few more touches before it's done." He left the office with his mind still on the address written on the sticky note. When the doors opened, he stepped onto the elevator and hit the button to go down to the ground floor. Just before the doors closed, a hand stopped them. The doors opened again, and someone else joined him in the elevator.

"Another big story to report on." He grinned at Dash, slapping a stack of rolled up paper into one hand.

Dash grunted but kept his attention focused on the numbers above the elevator doors. He hated working with Logan. Playing football in high school, Dash was rather competitive, but he took his job as a journalist seriously. Did he like being one of the top journalists? Of course he did. But he got there because he worked hard to write good stories. He didn't pick stories that he thought would be popular. He chose the stories he thought were important to tell.

Logan acted like they were some kind of rivals. Every story to him was a way to one up Dash. Whenever his story got front page, he wore the smuggest smirk for the whole day and bragged about it for even longer.

"It's a really good one." Logan grinned. Today he did his sandy brown hair up in the most ridiculous looking pompadour Dash could remember seeing. "If you're not careful, I might just steal the Phantom story from you."

Dash rolled his eyes so hard it actually hurt. "Good luck to you then." The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. "I would love to watch you try to get that story." He smiled as he walked off the elevator.

The look on Logan's face, with his weak peach fuzz of a mustache, was priceless. Dash was almost sad he didn't manage to snap a picture of it. The doors closed before Logan could remember to get off. Dash left the building then hailed a taxi to drop him off at the address Mrs. Wilson gave him.

When he saw the address on the sticky note, Dash thought he was seeing things. It was the address of the building on Elm street, the one currently under construction. He had wondered if he could get an interview with the person who bought the building. Even if it wasn't anything news worthy, his curiosity made him want to know.

The taxi pulled up in front of the building. Dash offered his thanks, handing the man his fare before he climbed out of the car. The driver didn't wait long after he got out to drive off again. Dash stuffed his hands into his pockets as he stared up at the building. He was actually going to see what was happening with the once long abandoned building and hopefully get some answers.

"Dash!"

He turned his head to find Kylie walking up to him. "Oh, hey. Sneaking out to grab another bite to eat?" He smiled, only teasing just tiny bit.

Kylie laughed, shaking her head. "Not today. I was told to come out and meet with a reporter, but then I saw you. What are you doing here?"

"Well," Dash reached up to rub the back of his neck, "I happen to be that reporter."

"You - Oh!" Kylie ducked her head. "I had no idea."

Dash shook his head, holding up a hand. "I never told you what I did, so you had no reason to know."

"Right." Kylie shifted, chewing on her lower lip. "Oh! I should take you inside. That's the whole reason you're here, after all."

Kylie led the way through the covered fencing and into the building. Inside, construction workers were busy with various jobs: repairing the floor, putting up walls, adding new lights. An electrician was on hand to fix the wiring. Despite the mess, the front area was shaping up to look like some kind of lobby. Dash still couldn't guess what all of this was for. They walked through the lobby and down a hall to an elevator. They entered, and Kylie hit the button for the top floor.

"So you're a reporter?" Kylie asked as they waited for the elevator to arrive at their destination.

Dash nodded. "Yeah, a reporter for the Amity Park Dispatcher."

"Maybe I'll have to pick one up and read something you've written."

The elevator dinged and stopped with a jerk. After the doors opened, Kylie walked down the hall. Dash followed as he took a look around, but the hall was fairly plain. Nothing hung on the boring white walls. The floor was pale gray tiles, polished enough to shine. He still couldn't get a read on what exactly they were doing in this building. He returned his attention to Kylie when she stopped at the doors at the end of the hall. A small wooden desk sat outside the doors, and on the desk was a name plate with Kylie written on it. Kylie knocked twice on the door.

"Come in."

Kylie opened the door. "The reporter is here."

"Thank you, Kylie."

After Dash stepped into the office, Kylie closed the door, leaving him alone with the woman sitting at the desk. The office had a little more personality to it than the hall. The carpet was a dark red. To one side, a pair of bookshelves stood against the wall. It was filled with books, some of the leather bindings looking old and a little worn. Framed diplomas hung on the wall behind her desk. On the wall opposite the bookshelves were a few paintings, but Dash couldn't make out what the abstract art was meant to be.

"Hello, Mr. Baxter." She smiled at him, but it didn't feel like a warm or friendly one to him. "I am Evelyn Walker."

Dash walked over to the desk and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Walker."

"Miss," she corrected as she shook his hand.

"Right. Ms. Walker." Dash reached into his pocket and pulled out a recorder. "You don't mind do you?" He held up the recorder.

"Go right ahead." She smiled, gesturing with a sweep of on hand toward the chair opposite her.

Dash bobbed his head as he sat down. "So, Ms. Walker," he started the recorder, "do you mind me asking who you are?"

"Oh my!" She placed a hand to her cheek. "Maybe I thought a bit too much of myself." She winced. "I'm the president of a little company called the Walker Corporation. Yes, I know. Not that creative. But when I started my company, I was more concerned with helping people than picking some amazing name." She laughed.

"And what kind of work do you do at your company?"

"We dabble in a lot of different projects. Our goal, mostly, is to help people and make the world better. We have tech divisions and medical divisions. We have people who are working in other countries to provide clean, safe drinking water and medicine. They also help provide housing."

"Sounds like you're quite devoted to humanitarian projects."

"Yes." Ms. Walker nodded with a soft smile. "Making the world a better place is the whole basis for my company."

Dash still wasn't sure what he thought of Ms. Walker. "So what exactly brought you to Amity Park? With all the work you're doing, Amity Park seems like an odd location to set up - ah, is this a second headquarters?"

"Oh no." Ms. Walker shook her head, some of her black hair falling forward to drape down her shoulders. "This is more of a," her brown eyes seemed to twinkle, "side project."

"A side project?" Dash lifted an eyebrow. "Just what kind of side project would you bring you here?"

"I was contacted about the project. He needed some funding, and that was easy enough for me to provide." Ms. Walker smiled. "I'm always looking to help out on a good project, and building a museum dedicated to your local hero Phantom sounded like a very good project."

Dash stared at her for a long minute. "Sorry. You said a museum for Phantom?"

"Yes."

"How does that line up with your humanitarian efforts? A museum doesn't exactly sound like it will be helping people very much."

"Perhaps you see it that way, but I think of it as a good investment." Ms. Walker's smile turned gentle in that way adults had when talking to a small child who they believed incapable of understanding complex ideas. Dash tried not to let it show on his face, but the smile just rubbed him the wrong way. She couldn't be more than six or seven years older than he. "As it was explained to me, Phantom is quite popular. People travel from all over the place just in the hopes of catching sight of him. Wouldn't it be great for them to have somewhere to go to read about his acts of heroism? To maybe see replicas of him and his enemies? We can even have televisions set up to show off old news footage that managed to catch him fighting against the ghosts. When this project was brought to my attention, I couldn't help thinking it was a brilliant idea."

"A lot of people would definitely appreciate the museum." Dash recalled hearing mention of someone wanting to do just as Ms. Walker was doing. "I can see it becoming profitable. But now I'm wondering if the reason you asked me to do this interview is just a means of advertising the museum to the people."

"A little advertising can't hurt." Ms. Walker shrugged one shoulder as she leaned back in her chair. "Though I must confess, when my assistant mentioned your name, I wasn't expecting you to be a reporter."

"Oh? And here I thought you asked for me because you thought I was the best reporter." A slight crease formed in Dash's brow. Everything in him was telling him not to trust this woman.

"That certainly didn't hurt in my choice to ask for you."

Dash nodded. "So why did you want to see me specifically?"

"I couldn't help being a little curious about this mysterious man Kylie met." Ms. Walker smiled, her gaze feeling like it could pierce right through him. "I must apologize for any trouble she may have caused you. She can be quite clumsy, and she's terrible with directions, but she's still a good assistant."

"It really wasn't any trouble, so an apology isn't necessary." Dash shifted in his seat. "Was there anything else you wanted to say about the museum?"

"We hope to have it open soon. If everything stays on track, it could even open by the end of the month."

Dash nodded. "I'm sure people will be excited to hear that." He took another glance around the office until his gaze landed on a framed picture on her desk. It was turned just enough that he could make out a tabby cat in the picture. "That's a cute cat."

"Oh," Ms. Walker smiled softly as her attention turned to the picture, "yes. That's Benny. I named him after my father Benjamin."

"He looks like a sweet cat."

"He is."

Dash dropped his gaze to the recorder, preparing to shut it off. "I guess if that's everything, I should stop taking up your time."

"It wasn't wasting my time." Ms. Walker stood, but she paused before moving to walk around the desk. "Ah, but there is one last thing I wanted to ask you."

Dash hesitated then got to his feet. "And what would that be?"

"My assistant mentioned she met someone else when she bumped into you. What was that name again?" She held a hand to her chin. "Danny, was it? Danny Fenton?"

Dash's brow knitted as he glanced Ms. Walker over from top to bottom. "Why are you asking about him?"

Ms. Walker laughed. "We are working on creating a museum dedicated to Phantom. A ghost." She watched him expectantly, and Dash already had an idea of where she was going with that.

"Yeah," Dash frowned the same way he used to do in high school when he didn't want to give away that he actually knew the answer, "we already talked about the museum."

Ms. Walker's smile faltered, and her eye twitched ever so slightly at his response. "Isn't the Fenton family considered the leading researchers on ghosts?"

Dash scratched at the side of his head. "If you say so." He shrugged. "We just happened to run into each other that day. We don't really know each other that well."

"Oh." Ms. Walker's mouth pursed. "It sounded like the two of you were pretty friendly."

"It seemed rude to act otherwise."

Ms. Walker nodded then walked over to the door of the office. "Then I guess that is all." She smiled, this time seeming much more forced. "Thank you for accepting my request."

Dash nodded as he passed her on his way out the door. "Thank you for meeting with me." He pocketed his recorder then shook her hand. After Ms. Walker closed the door, Dash turned but didn't see Kylie sitting at her desk. He frowned but walked down the hall to the elevator. As the doors slid shut, he leaned against the back wall of the elevator. He finally got some answers, but it still felt like he didn't learn anything.


	23. Chapter 23

Dan huffed as he walked down the street. He spent the day flying around the area they decided to search first, but he found nothing. It was all just apartments and small businesses, none capable of producing some kind of device that could nullify a ghost's abilities. He ground his teeth. Logically, he knew he didn't have to prove anything, but he hated this feeling of uselessness. How was he supposed to show Danny and Valerie that he could do more than just punch things?

_I can't believe I even care about that_ , he thought, raking a hand through his now much shorter locks. He felt a lot of things he thought he would never feel. Anger and a lust for destruction was all he knew for the longest time. One thing that had stayed constant was his anger at Clockwork. Who kept someone locked up in isolation for fourteen years? It was outrageous! Sure, he knew Clockwork was always around, and every so often, Clockwork would attempt talking to him through the Thermos. But for the most part, Dan felt utterly alone inside the Thermos.

On the one hand, he understood that Clockwork couldn't release him if he foresaw Dan escaping to rampage through Amity Park, bent on destroying this timeline to reflect his own. But that didn't mean Dan had to like him or the fact that he was stuck in there for so long. There had to be other means of dealing with the situation, or at least, that was what he kept telling himself. Realistically, even he couldn't see another option. Until recently, he was still far too angry at everything to even listen to what anyone had to say. Now he was seeing what a fool he had been for so long.

But if he had been released any sooner from the Thermos, maybe he wouldn't have run into Kwan that day. He wouldn't have sparred at the boxing gym with Kwan. He wouldn't be on the path he currently was on, and he didn't want to think about living out a different life. He liked how things were _now_.

But he still hated Clockwork.

His phone buzzed, and Dan couldn't stop the smile spreading onto his face. He already sent a report to Danny and Valerie, simply saying he had found nothing. A part of him understood it could be either of them replying to his message, but he hoped it would be Kwan. Dan pulled out his phone and brought up the new message, his smile widening when he saw who sent it. But the smile was brief.

[ _Sorry. Work. Maybe we can do something later?_ ]

Dan's face mirrored the frowning emote Kwan added to the end of the text. He would like to be able to do stuff with Kwan, but he understood work was important. His mouth pursed to one side as he thought about his response. He was disappointed, but he didn't want it reflected in his reply. He worried whatever he said would somehow make Kwan feel guilty for declining. Kwan had his own life, and Dan certainly didn't expect him to drop everything just to do something with him.

"What's up with you?"

Dan jerked his head up then gave the other man a flat stare. "Oh, it's you."

Dash bristled at the dull tone in Dan's voice. "What's with that response?"

Dan nearly laughed at that reaction. Getting under Dash's skin with minimal effort? Definitely enjoyable. Dan shrugged as he returned to staring at his phone. "Maybe I was just hoping for someone else."

Dash huffed as he folded his arms. "Kwan, right?"

Dan flicked his gaze to him. "Maybe."

Dash sighed as he walked around and leaned over to see the phone. "You're mad that he has to work?"

"I'm not mad!" Dan jerked his phone away from Dash's sight. "I just don't want to say 'yeah, okay' and have it sound like I'm mad or upset or something." He frowned. "Of course, I want to hang out with him, so that's a little disappointing. But that's it."

Dash rolled his eyes. "If you had given a different answer, I might have had to punch you. For Kwan's sake. Just ask him what time he's free after work. Or if he thinks he'll be up for anything tonight. Depending on how work was, he might just want to sleep."

Dan nodded, shooting off a quick inquiry to Kwan. Then he pocketed his phone and turned fully to Dash. "And I did bad things in the past. That doesn't mean I'm a bad person now." At least, he was attempting to be more of a good person, though he didn't plan on becoming exactly like Danny.

"I get it." With a sigh, Dash shook his head. "I was judging you pretty harshly. But Kwan's my closest friend, so I just want to watch out for him. He - I can't watch him being hurt by people that claim to love him."

Dan narrowed his eyes. "That sounds like something you won't tell me even if I ask."

"It's Kwan's business to tell." Dash folded his arms, shooting a glare right back at him.

Dan ground his teeth. Now that he knew there was _something_ , it was going to bother him until Kwan told him. His jaw set hard. If he asked about it, Kwan might shut him out, if he wasn't ready to talk about it with him yet. _I'm not being one hundred percent honest either_ , he reminded himself. But he couldn't come out and tell Kwan the truth. For one, he feared Kwan's reaction to who he was and what he did, but there were also too many questions he couldn't answer without revealing Danny's secret to Kwan too.

Dash sighed and scratched a hand through his hair. "And I guess maybe some of my harshness toward you is a bit of projecting onto you. I wasn't exactly a good person in the past either."

Dan managed to bite back a laugh. Who Dash was in the past was nowhere near as bad as what Dan did! Still, something about that point miffed him. "Yeah, judging from what Danny told me when he tutored me," he leveled a glare at Dash, "you were pretty much shit."

Dash's shoulders hunched, and his face grew red. "I get it," he growled. Then he huffed, his muscles relaxing as he looked away. "I was terrible to Fenton. But I apologized for all of that. I don't want high school to define who I am now. So I can understand you not wanting your past to define you either."

Dan nodded, stunned to realize he had anything in common with Dash. "So you apologized." His mouth thinned. For whatever reason, he felt like he deserved an apology too. But explaining why to Dash would be too complicated.

"Yeah," Dash responded defensively. "What's wrong with that?"

Dan shook his head. "I guess I just never pictured you as someone to apologize."

Dash narrowed his eyes. "Yeah? Because you know me so well?"

Dan shrugged. "I'm just going off what I heard from Danny." He grinned with a touch of mischievousness. "He did talk about you _a lot_."

"So?" Dash jerked back, trying to put distance between them. His hands raised part way, like he was preparing to shove Dan away if he needed to.

Wow. Dan shook his head. Was Dash really this dense? "I don't know." He rolled his eyes. "I guess I was just imagining it." He leaned back, waving off his comments. If Dash couldn't put the pieces together, Dan wasn't going to bother helping him.

"Right." Dash frowned, his eyes narrowing, but Dan suspected he wasn't able to puzzle out what he meant. "So what's your plan if Kwan says he's free tonight?"

"Why? Planning on dropping in to ruin it?" Dan folded his arms, glaring darkly at him.

"I want Kwan to be happy. Interrupting your date would not make him happy. I mean," Dash sighed, "Kwan probably doesn't care about any big grand gestures. He'll be happy just sitting on a couch watching movies. But," he held up a finger, pointing it in Dan's face, "that doesn't mean you shouldn't try being romantic at least once in a while. It doesn't even have to be something big. I can tell you he does like flowers."

Dan's brow drew together. "And you know that how?"

"Not because we dated." Dash snorted. "I just brought him flowers once when he was feeling down. It cheered him up." He rolled a shoulder. "They were just tulips, but he smiled when I gave them to him. I'm just saying that you don't have to, like, take him to Paris to be romantic. You could just cook his favorite meal or give him some of his favorite chocolate. Things that show you actually know him will be far more romantic than going to some stupidly expensive restaurant."

Dan nodded. They hadn't actually talked about things like favorite meals, but he understood what Dash was saying. "Why are you helping me so much?"

Dash stare flatly, lifting one eyebrow. "Do I really need to keep repeating myself? If Kwan likes you and you make him happy, then I want to make sure this all works out between you and him."

"So if I wanted to surprise him by cooking a meal he likes, what do you think that should be?"

Dash considered for a long moment. Then he grinned. "I think I know something good. But first, we'll need to buy some ingredients."

"Great. We can head to the grocery store right now." Danny only gave him a bit of cash. Dan hoped the shopping trip wouldn't need more than what he had. "And hey, if you ever need advice on Danny," he pointed a thumb at himself, "I can help you out." He thought he could, anyway. But he only really knew Danny's likes from when he was fourteen.

"Why would I need that?" Dash furrowed his brow.

Dan sighed. He felt a bit sorry for Danny if the man he liked was this dense. Still, Dash was a vast improvement from Bryce. "Let's just hit the store." He followed after Dash as he led the way down the street to the closest grocery store. "So what were you doing here? Skipping out on work?"

Dash shook his head. "No, I just finished up with a meeting. Now I should be getting back to finishing up the article I need to turn in, but I can get that done quickly."

"Article? So you're a reporter?"

"I prefer investigative journalist," Dash corrected with a snort.

Dan raised a brow as Dash's mouth twisted. "Is something up?"

"Huh?" Dash looked over to him then shook his head. "I was just thinking back to the interview. I was doing a bit of research on her, but there didn't seem to be much to find." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "At least, nothing that she hadn't already told me."

"You were expecting to find some dirt on her, weren't you?"

Dash side eyed him. "If I'm going to write an article about someone, I want to make sure they're legit. I mean, doesn't it seem awfully suspicious to move to Amity Park just to set up a museum? Something doesn't add up."

"A museum?" Dan frowned. "Why would anyone move to Amity Park just to set up a museum?"

"Exactly what I was hoping to find out." Dash huffed, clearly frustrated with the lack of answers. "But so far, everything sounds perfectly normal with her. At least, in print."

"I guess a reporter is always suspicious of everyone."

"I wouldn't say everyone. Just people who give me bad vibes."

Dan nodded, wondering if he was one of those people. "And I thought you were hanging out around here because of what happened the other night."

"What?" Dash shot him a puzzled glance. "What happened the other night?"

Dan rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe he shouldn't be saying this to Dash. "I heard some people mention that they lost power for a little while." He shrugged. "I guess that's nothing special. I would have hoped to see a ghost. For all the talk about ghosts and that hero of yours. What's his name? Specter?"

"Phantom." Dash shot him a glare, like getting the name wrong deeply offended him.

"Right." Dan laughed under his breath. "I still haven't seen him at all. Are you sure he's real?"

"Of course he's real!" Dash huffed. He paused, pulling out his phone to read something on it. "Speaking of him, looks like there was a ghost attack just now." He shoved the phone back into his pocket. "Quick change of plans. We'll catch the fight then hit the store."

"Sure." Dan shrugged, struggling to keep his expression neutral. A smirk made the corner of his mouth twitch. He followed after Dash, still surprised that he wasn't completely hating being around Dash. He didn't quite get what Danny saw in him, but he wasn't as bad as Dan remembered.

After a short walk, they arrived at the scene of the fight. People cowered on the side of the street while Phantom fought against a bear ghost. Dan lifted his eyebrows. Phantom landed in the street just a few feet away from them and threw up a shield as the bear roared. He blocked the ecto energy sound waves from hurting the people on the street or damaging the buildings. Dan folded his arms, refusing to be impressed.

"See?" Dash said, leaning toward him with a smug smirk. "Now you can't say Phantom isn't real."

Dan grunted. "He's a bit small, isn't he?"

"No." Dash glared. "And he's buffed up since the first time he appeared."

Dan couldn't argue with that. Danny had definitely put in the work to get stronger over the years.

Phantom's gaze flicked their way, his green eyes widening a fraction when he spotted them. The bear shifted forms, changing into a giant snake. Some people screamed in alarm. The snake crashed through the shield, snatching Phantom into its mouth while he was distracted. Phantom managed to turn them intangible before they hit the wall. They phased through the building and disappeared from sight.

Dan snorted a laugh. "I guess he still needs to work on some things." He cracked a smirk. "Maybe Kwan can give him some pointers with fighting."

Dash glowered, his mouth pressing thin. "Kwan's a good boxer, but ghosts don't adhere to the rules of boxing."

Dash turned his gaze back to the fight as Phantom reappeared. The snake had changed forms again, now appearing as a lion. It leaped at Phantom, who shot a blast in its face. The lion fell back, stunned, and Phantom used the opportunity to suck it up into the Thermos. People applauded and cheered as they stopped cowering in fear. It almost felt like some kind of staged street production, much like the sparring match he had with Danny not too long ago. They got to watch the spectacle of Phantom's fight with the worry of "will he win the fight?" At the end, they got to walk away with the thrill of victory dancing in their minds.

Phantom cast a glance their way. It was only for a brief moment. Then he launched back into the air and flew off, disappearing as he went.

"Not much for sticking around, is he?" Dan huffed. When he looked at Dash, he frowned. Dash continued to stare after Phantom, his brow creasing deeply. "Okay." Dan folded his arms, turning fully to face Dash. "What's up?"

"Huh?" Dash jerked and glanced his way. Then he shook his head. "I was just thinking." He frowned, scratching the side of his head. "Phantom's been fighting kind of weird lately."

"Weird?" Dan cocked an eyebrow. "Weird how?"

"Hm. How to say it?" Dash held his chin in thought. "I guess it's like he's not using his full abilities. A ghost like that one?" He snorted. "Phantom should have had no trouble capturing it. But as you saw," he gestured to the street ahead of them, "the ghost caught him by surprise. That shouldn't have happened."

Dan agreed, but probably not for the same reason Dash was thinking. He knew why Danny was holding back. He still didn't want to show off all of his abilities in case they were being watched by the upcoming threat. But the reason for Danny getting taken by surprise just now? Dan was pretty sure that was because Danny didn't expect to see the two of them together.

"Well," Dash said, pulling Dan from his thoughts, "I guess we should hit the store before it gets too late."

"Just like that?"

"It's not like Phantom stuck around so I could ask him about it." Dash shrugged.

"I guess you're losing your touch."

Dan lifted an eyebrow as Dash groaned. When he turned around, Dan frowned at the man with a smug smirk. "You have," he gestured at his upper lip with a finger, "some dirt there."

"It's a mustache!" His face burned brightly red.

"I wouldn't call that a mustache."

"What do you want, Logan?" Dash sighed with a flat stare.

"Oh," the smirk returned to Logan's face, "I heard about Phantom's fight and thought I should check it out. Wow!" He laughed. "Phantom really took one look at you and ran, didn't he? Maybe it really is time for you to step aside and let a real reporter take over the story."

Dan snorted at the same time as Dash. "Fat chance."

"Excuse you?" Logan bristled. "Who even are you?"

"A casual observer." Dan shrugged. "But I doubt you can get a story out of Phantom if this guy," he pointed his thumb in Dash's direction, "can't."

"I already told him good luck," Dash said to Dan. "Phantom hasn't been willing to give an interview yet. I really doubt this joker can do a better job."

"What?" Logan shouted.

"Anyway, we should get going. You want time to prepare that dinner." Dash turned and started walking down the street.

"Hey!"

Dan grinned at the fury on Logan's face. "Good luck, loser." He waved then hurried to catch up with Dash, leaving a fuming Logan behind him.


	24. Chapter 24

Kwan rubbed at his shoulders as he left the restaurant. He didn't remember it being so exhausting. After the busy dinner rush, all he wanted to do was go home and crash into bed. He pulled out his phone to check messages, which he didn't have a chance to do while he was working. Nothing. Dan didn't send any other texts after his last one asking if he thought he would be busy tonight. Kwan answered with what time he would get off work. He sighed as he shoved his phone back in his pocket.

"You're looking down."

Kwan jerked his head up then smiled when he saw Dash walking up to him. "Just pretty tired. What are you doing here?"

Dash shrugged. "I was in the neighborhood working on some stuff for an article. I thought I would drop by and see if you were working."

Kwan laughed. "Lucky you. I just got off."

"Does that mean I can't get you to sneak me some food?" Dash pouted, and Kwan patted him on the shoulder with a sympathetic smile. "At least I can walk you home. I have to head past your place anyway on my way home."

"Maybe I should have sneaked out some food," Kwan said as they walked down the street. "I don't want to think about cooking dinner."

Dash frowned, glancing disapprovingly at Kwan. "Your parents take advantage of you."

Kwan looked away with his hands stuffed into his pockets. He knew Dash was right, but he kept telling himself it was fine. He could ignore it until he found a better job. "Maybe I should take up Val's offer."

Dash dropped his hand on Kwan's shoulder and tugged him closer. "I know you don't want to feel like you're taking a hand out or mooching off your friends. It's why I didn't bug you about moving in with me. And your apartment is fine." He pointed at Kwan, his expression stern and not to be argued with. Kwan snapped his mouth closed again. "What I meant was that if you needed the help, I would have been totally okay with you moving in with me. But I know you wouldn't want me pestering you about it, so I decided not to bring up at all."

Kwan smiled fondly. "I appreciate that." Then he sighed. "I want to prove I can make it on my own. But right now, Val's offer really is the best I have. It would be doing something I like doing, tinkering with different tech."

"And I bet Val wouldn't run you ragged like you parents." Dash squeezed Kwan's shoulder. Then he chuckled. "Unless of course a deadline needed to be met and you had to work extra hours to get it done."

Kwan laughed. "I'm used to that kind of thing happening."

"Did you do that a lot at your old job?"

Kwan rolled his shoulder. "Sometimes. My boss sometimes had a stick up his ass about getting work done." He frowned. "Even if it wasn't in the most efficient manner."

"Judging from that comment alone, I guess it's good that you left."

"Yeah." Kwan lowered his gaze. He hated that boss, but it wasn't entirely the reason for him leaving. "And here we are." They stopped outside his apartment building. "Do you want to stop in for a quick bite to eat or anything?"

"Sure." Dash followed him into the building, and they headed up to his apartment.

"I don't think I have a whole lot, but there's probably some leftovers in the fridge." Kwan got out his keys and unlocked the door. When he stepped into the apartment, he froze, wondering why it smelled like someone had cooked something recently. He walked farther into the apartment, his gaze sweeping around room. Then he spotted Dan, and his eyes widened.

"I guess you had quite the treat waiting for you," Dash said, bumping him with an elbow. He laughed when Kwan shot a glare at him. "Yeah, giving me that spare key was probably a bad idea. But I hope you enjoy your surprise anyway." He patted Kwan on the shoulder before backing out of the apartment and shutting the door behind him.

"You're not mad about this, are you?" Dan frowned, setting the large plate in his hands down on the table in front of Kwan's couch. "Because I told him this might not be the best idea."

Kwan stared at him, still not quite believing all of this. Then he laughed, shaking his head. "No, it's fine. Though I'm glad Dash came along." He walked over to where Dan stood. "It's sweet, but I would have questioned how you got into my apartment."

"Yeah," Dan frowned with a grimace, "that's what I kept telling him. He said this would be a perfectly romantic idea."

Kwan laughed. "That does sound like him." He glanced down at what was on the plate Dan brought in, and smile tugged at his mouth. "Let me guess. That was also Dash's idea."

Dan's frown deepened. "He was messing with me, wasn't he? Argh! I should have known he would do that!"

"Hey, whoa!" Kwan placed his hands on Dan's chest. The anger flashing in Dan's eyes worried him. "He wasn't messing with you. I just doubted you knew I liked enchiladas. I mean," he laughed awkwardly, "the last guy I dated thought the only place I would want to eat out at was Panda Express. Which isn't necessarily bad food, and I certainly love everything I learned to cook from my parents. But I do like other kinds of food too."

Dan relaxed. Then he reached up to lay his hand over one of Kwan's. "I wasn't going to do anything."

"Huh?" Kwan blinked.

"You were worried about me getting angry. I wasn't going to lash out." Dan squeezed Kwan's hand to assure him. "I was just annoyed at the idea that Dash might have been playing some kind prank on me. Like, I don't know." He frowned in thought. "Maybe there was something in the enchilada that you were allergic to. Then you would get mad at me."

Kwan stared with a fond smile. "I know Dash can sometimes be a dick, but he wouldn't sabotage a relationship. He might tell me he doesn't trust you or that he gets a bad vibe from you. But he wouldn't try some underhanded scheme to break us up."

Dan sighed out heavily. "That's good to know. Should we eat before it gets cold?"

Kwan nodded, grinning. As tired as he was after work, this was definitely a surprise that could pick up his mood. Dan served some of the enchiladas from the large plate onto smaller individual plates for each of them. Kwan cut into his enchilada and ate the forkful. He hummed in delight, impressed by Dan's cooking. He smiled as he glanced toward Dan.

"Maybe I should let you come over and cook for me more often."

Dan looked up in the middle of eating. "I guess I'll have to work on my cooking skills more then." He grinned as he leaned toward Kwan with one arm braced on the back of the couch. "Though I wouldn't mind getting to try your cooking sometime."

"Maybe next time." Kwan ate some more of the enchilada.

"So," Dan pulled back, turning to face the table, "you told me a bit about your childhood." He frowned, probably recalling the mention of being teased by the other children. "But I want to know more. What were you like? What other hobbies did you have?"

Kwan poked at his enchilada. "As a kid? There were a lot things my parents kind of forced me into. They were really hoping I'd be something very successful and rich, like a lawyer or a doctor." He shrugged. "But I never liked those options. They really didn't like whenever I would take things apart to see how they worked."

Dan snorted a chuckle. "I think you probably would have fit right in with Danny's family. His parents would have loved teaching you how to make their ghost hunting stuff."

Kwan smiled, if a bit sadly. "I think I might have liked that." He looked up at Dan. "I said the other kids picked on me for being chubby, but it wasn't just them. My parents always made comments about my weight. They," he sighed, "made a lot of comments about a lot of things. Let's just say, growing up, I had pretty low confidence in myself."

"Parents shouldn't make their children feel like that." Dan glared at his plate. "I always thought my parents were embarrassing, but they were at least supportive. I may have taken that for granted."

Kwan nodded. "So what caused all of your anger issues?"

"Bullies, mostly." Dan sat back. "I was a pretty puny looking kid. All wiry arms." He raked a hand through his dark hair, his mouth pressing thin as he thought. "I built up a lot anger because of that. So," he hunched his shoulders, "I bulked up so when any of them wanted to mess with me, I could mess them up right back. Looking back at it, that was probably not the best solution since it didn't get rid of any of my anger. I think it actually made things worse."

Kwan lowered his gaze. "Yeah," he mumbled, guilt tugging at him. "Does it bother you if I tell you I was a bully in high school?"

"You?" Dan shook his head. "You're not a bully."

"I was!" Kwan argued, frowning as Dan snickered at his reaction. "Maybe I wasn't as bad as the other bullies, but I still participated in being mean to what was considered the losers of our high school."

"But how much did you enjoy it?" Dan held his gaze, his expression serious.

"I would have preferred not doing any of it." Kwan pulled his eyes away, staring down at his hands. "I already knew what it was like having people making fun of me. But I was afraid if I didn't act like the other jocks, I would be cast out of the group."

"See? Not a bully." Dan grinned. "You already knew what it was like having people make fun of you. I can't blame you for trying to protect yourself from more teasing by 'fitting in' with your friends. Though I'm not sure I'd call those people friends."

"I'm pretty sure Dash, Val, and Paulina were my only real friends."

"A handful of real friends is all you really need." Dan nodded. "And so far, I think Dash and Val seem pretty great."

"They are." Kwan smiled fondly as he thought of his friends. He turned to Dan as something occurred to him. "How did this," he gestured to their dinner, "all come about?"

"Oh, I was just wandering around today. Checking out the town." Dan rolled his shoulder. "I just happened to cross paths with Dash. We got to talking, and he suggested this as something nice and romantic I can do for you. But," he held up a finger, "just to be clear. He may have helped me figure out what to cook, but I did the actual cooking. Okay. He stood by and advised me during the whole thing, but I still did all the work."

Kwan laughed. "And it was greatly appreciated and very good." He leaned over, pressing a kiss to Dan's cheek.

Their eyes met. They held each other's gazes for several minutes. Then Dan leaned in slowly. His lips nearly met with Kwan's, and his breath caught in his throat. His heart thumped, beating loudly in his ears. Kwan pushed forward, pressing their lips together. Dan kissed back, eagerly, his hand slipping down to rest on Kwan's hip. Kwan placed his hand on Dan's chest, his fingers curling to lightly to grab hold of his shirt. His heart continued thundering as they kissed.

When he pulled back, Dan smiled. "Maybe I should have tried cooking you dinner sooner."

"Ha, ha." Kwan rolled his eyes as he stood, picking up their finished plates. "But I guess it could have helped." He grinned over his shoulders while he made his way over to the kitchen sink. A sharp pain stabbed at his eye. Kwan bit back his gasp. The plates clattered when he set them down too hard in the sink. He pressed his hands against his eyes, trying to will away the pain.

"Is everything okay?" Dan placed a hand on his shoulder, his voice thick with his concern.

"Yeah," Kwan shook his head, putting a smile on his face, "it's fine. Just, you know, stress from work and all that." He hoped, at least. But the way things had progressed, he didn't think this was something that would just go away on its own. He didn't want to think about what was causing the pain.

"If you're sure." Dan frowned, not looking convinced, as he squeezed Kwan's shoulder.

That was the moment the burning smell hit him. Kwan took a deep breath and nearly choked on it. Dan's hold on him tightened. Kwan shouted. A new pain sliced right through his thigh. He shoved away from Dan, collapsing onto the floor as his leg gave out under him. When he opened his eyes to look at his leg, he was no longer in his kitchen. He was trapped under a car, with sharp metal digging into his leg. A fire burned somewhere close by, and panic rose inside him. He couldn't lift the car. His hands already stung from the effort of trying to free himself. Blood coated his hands from the jagged cuts left from the metal.

"Kwan!"

He jerked his head up then screamed, scrambling back from him. Crouched before him, the ghost had flaming white hair. The red eyes, typically filled with anger and malice, showed concern. He held up his hands, a frown pulling across his pale green face.

"Tell me what's going on." The ghost's voice was calm, but there was the slightest wavering. It didn't match up with the hate filled image in Kwan's mind.

Screwing his eyes shut, Kwan shook his head. When he opened them again, he could still see the ghost overlaid on Dan. "Who - Who-" Kwan swallowed, his throat feeling tight. His heart wouldn't stop racing. His leg continued to throb, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was at first. "Who are you?"

Dan blinked, jerking back. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Kwan snapped, glaring at him as his voice turned cold and hard, "you're not human."

The color drained from his face. "What are you-"

"I just saw it!" Kwan shouted. "I saw you as a ghost. I saw-" He hesitated, sickness churning in his stomach. "I saw the destruction you caused. You - You killed people!"

Dan lowered his gaze, his shoulders sagging. "That's not who I am now. I know I've done terrible things in the past. I have no excuse for it."

"I know you said you had anger issues, but-" Kwan shook his head. "Why would you do all of that?"

Dan's hands curled, and his jaw clenched. "I had to watch my friends and family die. I watched it happen, and I was too late to do anything to save them. So I wanted to get rid of those feelings. It was just - It was too painful. Living each day with that scene replaying in my head. With the guilt that I couldn't save them. So I wanted to rip those feelings out of me." Dan closed his eyes tightly, like he was seeing it all happen yet again. "Instead, I was born, and all I knew was grief and anger. I wanted the world to know the pain I felt. It was stupid. I see that now. I should have handled things better. But I was stupid."

"You killed me!" Kwan shouted.

Dan flinched. "What? No! I couldn't have!" He shook his head in disbelief.

"When you broke through the shield around Amity Park, it knocked my car off course. I crashed, and in the accident, I got trapped under the car. I couldn't escape." Kwan's breath grew short. He held a hand over his chest as it tightened. "There was fire, and the car exploded. I - I was caught in that. I died. And it was your fault!"

"No." Dan shook his head again. "No. No! NO!" He bowed his head, tugging at his hair. "I can't- I couldn't-" He dropped his hands, falling silent. After a long minute, he lifted his head, his eyes filled with agony. "I wish I could say I never meant for that to happen, but the me of that time didn't care about anything but destruction. I'm-" His brow pinched as he frowned. "I'm sorry."

Kwan turned his gaze away.

Dan stood. "I'll go." He took a step then paused. "I regret what I did in the past. I let my grief and anger turn me into a horrible monster. And it took me a long time to reach that understanding. I don't want to be that person you saw. I refuse to go back to being that. But there is something I don't regret after everything I did. I got to meet you. But if you don't want anything to do with me now, I understand. I won't bother you." Dan walked out of the kitchen, and a few minutes later, the apartment door opened and closed.

Kwan curled up, threading his fingers through his hair. Hot tears gathered in his eyes. His feelings were a mixed up jumble, and he didn't know what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you ever think I need to add some warnings for the fic, let me know? Sometimes I'm really bad at remembering to do that (and know what warnings I should use).


	25. Chapter 25

Danny sighed as he walked back downstairs. He typed a quick message to Valerie, letting her know that Dan hadn't returned to his house yet. A frown settled onto his face when he recalled seeing Dan hanging around with Dash. What was that all about anyway? Was that why Dan hadn't returned home yet? Danny shook his head. He couldn't imagine the two of them hanging out all night long. But it nagged at his brain.

[I'm gonna do another patrol.]

After he sent the text, Danny shoved his phone into his pocket. Before he could reach the front door, the bell rang. He walked the few steps to the door and opened it.

Danny blinked at the woman standing on the doorstep. "Uh, hi. Kylie, was it?"

She smiled brightly, adjusting her glasses which had slipped a bit down her nose. Her dark hair was braided loosely and pulled over one shoulder. "You remembered!"

"Yeah." Danny bobbed his head, but confusion still nagged at him. "And you, uh, know where I live."

Kylie laughed and pointed upward. "The sign kind of gives it away."

Danny chuckled, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Ah, yeah, I guess there is that." Frowning, he leaned against the door. "But I do have to wonder why you came looking for my house."

"Oh, um." Kylie's smile faltered. "Well, you see, I may have mentioned you when I was talking with my boss. I guess she looked into you because she thought you were very skilled." She pulled her purse forward and sifted through the items within it. "She was hoping you might consider meeting with her." She held out a business card.

"Oh." Danny shook his head. "I'm not looking for a new job."

"At least take the card?" Kylie pleaded with her eyes. "Then I can at least say I tried."

Danny hesitated then sighed. "Okay." He took the card from her. "I'm guessing your boss sent you because she thought you would have a better chance of convincing me to agree to this meeting."

"That," Kylie winced, "may have crossed her mind?"

Danny tried not to, but the corner of his mouth curled upward. He couldn't blame her for following her boss's orders. "Was this," he held up the card, "your only reason for coming to see me?"

"Pretty much." Kylie shrugged. "Unless you wanted to have that meeting with my boss right now."

Danny winced at the hopefulness in Kylie's smile. "I actually have a lot of work I need to finish up tonight. For work. Tomorrow."

Kylie nodded. "Yeah, I get that." She sighed heavily. "I have some work to get done too."

"I guess we should get started on that work. I don't know about your boss, but mine can get pretty cranky if I'm late with my work."

"Oh, I know! My boss can be quite the monster." Kylie held a hand pressed over her chest. "Which is why I wanted to talk to you about that meeting as soon as possible."

Danny could understand where she was coming from, but at least he was secure in the knowledge that Valerie wouldn't fire him if he was a bit late getting some work done. Kylie's boss probably wasn't so lenient with her.

"I guess I should head off now." Kylie smiled, with a slight wince. "Sorry for taking up your time."

Danny shook his head. "You don't have to apologize for anything. Good luck with your boss."

"You too." Kylie waved as she turned.

Danny remained standing there, watching as she headed down the walkway. After he closed the door, he stared at the business card. Evelyn Walker? He didn't know that name, but that came as no surprise if she, like Kylie, was from out of town. He placed the card down on the table in the front hall with no intention of seeking out any meeting with her. Then he walked over to the window in the front room and peeked outside. By now, Kylie was long gone. Danny let the heavy curtain fall shut. Then he transformed and shifted to invisible before leaving the house.

When he arrived near the area where the incident happened, Danny found a safe spot to land and transform back. If it happened a second time, he didn't want be in flight again. Being in ghost form might have saved him from suffering major injuries, but he preferred not experiencing that again. He walked down the street, keeping his senses on high alert for any ghost activity. Mostly Dan. Last message he sent, Dan said he hadn't found anything after searching the area they decided to start with. The affected area during that incident was larger than he thought. Danny frowned, worrying over that fact. If that device could be made to affect all of Amity Park, permanently, he and Dan could be in trouble when it came to a fight.

Danny raked a hand through his hair. He really didn't like where his thoughts were heading. Maybe it would do him some good to spend a bit of time sparring at Dan's gym without using his powers.

"Fenton?"

Danny jolted out of his thoughts, jerking his gaze around until he spotted Dash sitting at a table outside a little cafe. His brow creased slightly as he realized he walked quite a distance from where he originally landed. Which also put him far off from the area he meant to patrol. "Uh, Dash, hey," he greeted, wincing inwardly as he walked over to the table. "What are you doing here?"

Dash typed a bit on his laptop then closed it. "Just sending off an article to my boss before I piss her off."

Danny's mouth twitched before he managed to school his expression. "More or less scary than pissing off Val?"

Dash lifted his head as he shoved his laptop into his bag. After a minute to consider, he answered, "Less. Way less. But I still wouldn't want to get on her bad side." He stood up, shouldering his bag. "So what are you doing around here?"

"Hm? Oh, I was just out for a walk." Danny shrugged as his gaze slid sideways, avoiding Dash's stare. "Some days I just spend too much time sitting at a desk. If I don't get out and walk around, stretch my legs a bit, I think it might just drive me crazy."

Dash laughed. "And that's why I'm glad I didn't take some kind of office job. Getting through school was hard enough. Spending so many hours just sitting around being lectured to." He shook his head and started walking down the street. Danny easily fell into step beside him. "It was absolutely maddening. Half the time, I just wanted to get up and run."

Danny nodded. "Did that play some part into why you were such a dick in high school?" Dash might have given him permission to be honest, but Danny still felt dread sliding down his spine like an ice cube down the back of his shirt.

Dash stared at him then rolled his shoulder. "Maybe in some part. I actually never even thought about that until just now." He looked thoughtful for a minute before shaking his head. "I guess since we're almost to the weekend, I should start making plans for us."

"Wha-" Danny jerked his head around, his eyes wide. His brain raced, trying to make some sense of Dash's words. Plans for them? What was he even talking about? It hit him a moment later, and he almost sighed out loudly. "So it's your turn to host?" He grinned impishly, but his heart still thumped erratically in his chest.

"Should be, right? Val did the bar thing. Kwan had his little home warming thing. You were last week." Dash hunched his shoulders. "So that makes it my turn next."

"Right. So what's your plan?"

Dash rubbed at his neck, his mouth pursing to the side. "Maybe something out? We could go to that old bowling alley."

"Hold up!" Danny raised his hands. "I've cooked you dinner twice now." He held up two fingers. "And you're not going to cook for me even once?"

Dash huffed as he folded his arms. "We're keeping count on that now?"

"No, not really. Just seemed like the thing we were doing." Danny leaned toward Dash, grinning. "Unless you're just trying to avoid it because you can't cook."

"Oh, I can cook." Dash bristled. "Just you wait until Saturday."

The grin remained firmly in place as Danny pulled back. "I look forward to it."

Dash's mouth snapped shut, and his eyes narrowed a fraction. "Anyway," he said, continuing to walk down the street, and Danny bit back a chuckle as he followed, "I guess that means I have to do more planning before Saturday." His head turned; then, he stopped walking. "Give me one second." He held up one finger before he darted into a shop they had passed.

Danny blinked then shrugged. Pulling out his phone, he checked for any messages. Nothing from Dan, but Valerie sent him a text saying she would do a quick patrol later when she had the time. Sam wanted to be update as soon as they learned anything more about what happened to the cat. Tucker sent some more photos of little Ali. Danny smiled fondly at the pictures. He knew Tucker was going to be a great dad.

"Danny."

His head lifted with a jolt, his heart nearly stopping. But he should have realized immediately it wasn't Dash. When did Dash ever call him by his first name? His shoulders slumped when he saw the other man standing in front of him.

"Bryce," Danny said dryly with a flat stare. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you from across the street." Bryce frowned, ducking his head as he rubbed at his neck. It almost reminded Danny of when they first met. "I just-" He lifted his head just a touch to meet Danny's eyes. "I had to ask you. What was it that I did to drive you into the arms of someone else?"

Danny's frown deepened. "Excuse me?"

"There must have been something. Why else would you have cheated on me?" Bryce somehow managed to sound very sincere in his question. From the outside, it might have been easy to believe he was genuinely asking.

"I didn't cheat on you," Danny said firmly. He lost count of how many times he had to say that to him, but it got exhausting long before now.

"Danny-" Bryce reached out, but Danny jerked away from him. He frowned, lowering his gaze. "You're still denying it. I don't understand how we got here."

Danny ground his teeth, struggling to hold back a scream of frustration. Talking to Bryce was like beating his head against a brick wall, an experience he had more than once thanks to all his ghost fighting. "I can't keep doing this with you." His voice threatened close to shouting. "Everything I say just doesn't reach you. I tell you I never cheated but you keep acting like I did. Val is just a friend, and my boss. That's why we hang out at times. We have zero romantic interest in each other. But you still believe there's something there."

"Danny, you can't really expect me to believe that." Bryce shook his head. "The way you act around her, anyone with eyes could see there's something going on between you."

His eyes were too close to flashing bright green. "This is why I can't love you anymore!" His fists shook at his sides. "No matter what I tell you, you just come back with I'm a liar because you've already made up your mind. You think you're right so everything I say must be wrong. I can't do that anymore. You want to know why we broke up?" He jabbed his finger into Bryce's chest. "It's because of you. Because of this stupid obsession you have with believing I cheated on you when nothing happened between me and Val."

"Danny-"

"No!" Danny snapped. "Just stop talking. I don't want anything to do with you. Do you get that? Is that reaching through your thick skull?"

Bryce flinched, and maybe a twinge of guilt struck Danny. "All right." He hung his head as he walked past Danny and headed down the street.

Danny's jaw hurt from how hard he was grinding his teeth. When he tore his gaze away from following Bryce, he sighed and tried to relax the tension in his body. He hoped he finally got through to him, but Bryce was stubborn. Danny turned around to look for Dash then nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Dash standing just in front of him.

"Um," Danny cast his gaze sideways, heat creeping across his cheeks, "is there any chance you missed all of that?"

"Would it make you feel better if I said that?"

Danny frowned. "Maybe."

"I saw most of it."

Danny groaned, burying his face in his hands. He already told Dash about his ex, but he never wanted the two to cross paths. "Please just forget all about that."

"We all have a dating past." Dash bumped his hand against Danny's shoulder. "Maybe this will help you feel a bit better."

Danny dropped his hands away from his face to see what Dash held out to him. It was a cup of ice cream. He blinked. "Is that rocky road?"

"Yeah, I saw the shop when we passed it." Dash shrugged. "Thought it might be a good treat to eat while we walk."

Danny took the cup, still staring at the ice cream. "But how did you know I liked rocky road best?"

"Oh, uh, well," Dash hunched up his shoulders, poking his spoon at his own cup of ice cream, "I used to see rocky road in your freezer when I would look around for food during tutoring sessions. Jazz always said she preferred butter pecan ice cream, so I just figured you were the one that liked the rocky road."

"Oh." Danny bit the inside of his cheek as he felt a flutter inside him. He wouldn't have guessed Dash paid attention to, or remembered, details like that, especially about him. "Um, thanks." He poked his spoon in the ice cream. "Rocky road is still my favorite."

"Oh, good." Dash pretended to breathe out a sigh. "There was half a second when I was ordering that I feared I got it wrong." He stuffed a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

Danny rolled his eyes, smiling as he ate his ice cream. "So what's your brilliant plan for Saturday?"

"Well, since you insist I cook," Dash shot him a glare, but there was no heat to it, "I'll have to think of something other than bowling."

Danny laughed. "Nothing says we can't have dinner then go out to the bowling alley."

Dash considered it for a moment. "I'll see if I can come up with any other ideas before I make that my final decision."

They talked about ideas for Saturday as they walked. Eventually, they arrived at Fenton Works. Danny unlocked the door then turned to Dash. They stared at each other, Danny not quite wanting to say goodnight. Dash reached out, his hand coming close to touching Danny's cheek. Danny's breath caught in his throat. He stood very still. What was he doing? At the last second, Dash pulled his hand back.

"You, um," Dash waved his hand near his own mouth, "have a bit of something."

"Oh!" Danny wiped at his mouth, his cheeks darkening. He could kick himself. For a brief second, he really thought- But he pushed the thought away. "Do you want to come in?" He was almost certain he would say no, but Dash nodded and entered the house through the door Danny held open. He stared at the spot where Dash stood a moment ago. Despite how well they were getting along, the whole situation still surprised him. He shook his head then stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "Are you thirsty? I can make us some coffee." He walked down the hall to the kitchen.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Dash followed him. "Or just water, if that's easier."

Danny rolled his eyes as he put on a pot to start brewing the coffee. "So how's the whole investigative journalist thing going?"

"You ask that like it's some kind of hobby." Dash dumped his empty ice cream cup into the trash then walked over to lean against the counter where Danny stood. "And this 'thing' is going pretty well."

"I didn't mean it like that." Danny shrugged. "You mentioned finishing up an article earlier." His mouth twitch, a grin almost making its way onto his face. "Finally get that interview?"

Dash shook his head. "No, but I think I'm getting closer. Phantom said he would consider it. So." He held up his crossed fingers

Danny bobbed his head. "Maybe one day. Though Phantom doesn't seem like he's interested in talking."

Dash shrugged. "I'm not giving up."

Danny grabbed two mugs from the cabinet. "Milk? Sugar?" He poured the freshly brewed coffee into the mugs.

"Black is fine." Dash picked up a mug, and after blowing on it, he took a sip.

Danny added a splash of milk to his mug. "So what was this article you just finished about?"

"Maybe I shouldn't tell you. Then you'll have to go buy the newspaper." Dash smirked before he took another sip.

"I get the newspaper delivered. I already pay for it." Danny rolled his eyes, half tempted to give Dash a light kick to the foot. "Are you really not going to tell me? Even just a hint?"

Dash rolled his shoulder, setting his mug down on the counter. When he leaned on the counter again, his arm nearly brushed against Danny's. "It wasn't anything ground breaking. Nothing like that article about Manson's court case. There's been a few robberies in the downtown area. I went around talking to all the businesses that got hit. But if you want to know more about it, you'll have to read the article."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Of course, I'm going to read it." When his phone buzzed, he pulled it out to check the message. Valerie found nothing. He frowned.

"Something wrong?"

Danny lifted his head. Dash leaned in closer. Danny gulped, quickly closing out of the text message before he set his phone aside. "Oh, just," he hunched his shoulders, "Dan went out exploring today while I was at work. He hasn't really replied, and he hasn't come back yet." He reached out with his senses just to be certain but couldn't feel Dan anywhere within his range.

"Oh." Dash nodded with this knowing smirk, reminding Danny of when he spotted the two of them together during his fight. "If I had to guess, I think he's having a pretty good date right about now."

"What?" Danny arched his eyebrow.

Dash laughed. "I may have given him some help preparing something to surprise Kwan."

"Oh." Danny almost sighed out loudly. That scene had bugged him all day. "Then I guess I can stop worrying about it."

"As long as he doesn't mess things up." Dash pushed away from the counter.

Danny turned around, worry settling right back in his stomach. He could see that Dan cared a lot for Kwan, but the whole dating thing was something completely new to him. He hoped Dan didn't do something utterly stupid and ruin what could be a really good thing for him.

"Thanks for the coffee," Dash said, drawing Danny's attention back to him. "I guess I should head out though. It's pretty late."

"Oh, right, yeah." Danny nodded as he followed Dash to the front door. "I guess I'll see you on Saturday." He opened the door.

"Yeah," Dash chuckled, "unless we bump into each other again."

"Yeah." Danny released a short laugh. They stood there awkwardly with the door open. Danny kept his eyes lowered while Dash rubbed the back of his neck.

"Uh, well, good night, I guess." Dash stepped outside.

Danny waved as he closed the door. He barely let out his breath when someone knocked at the door. His heart jumped into his throat. He hesitated, his palms sweating, then he reached out and grabbed the doorknob, yanking the door open. Dash stood on the doorstep, looking surprised by his own action.

"Dash," Danny mumbled as Dash stepped inside, pushing the door closed behind him.

"I don't-" Dash shook his head, standing too close. "I was about to walk away, but I couldn't."

Danny absently licked his lips. "Why?"

Dash hesitated, and Danny thought he looked as nervous as he felt. "I-" Dash breathed out, raking a hand through his hair. "Can't believe I'm saying this," he mumbled almost too softly for Danny to catch. "I wanted to kiss you."

The statement made Danny's brain grind to a halt, but that didn't stop his mouth from speaking. "Why didn't you?"

Dash stared, his blue eyes growing wide, and Danny felt heat washing over his cheeks. "You - You want me to?"

Danny shifted his weight, lowering his gaze. "I actually thought you were going to before. And then you didn't. And I have no idea what we're doing."

"I-" Dash shook his head. "I don't know what we're doing either." His gaze flicked up, meeting his eyes, and Danny's heart skipped. "But-" He reached up, cupping Danny's cheek with his hand as he leaned in. His lips nearly brushed over Danny's, but he stopped before they could touch. "I still want to kiss you."

Danny closed the hair's breadth between them, pressing their mouths together. Dash slid his hand back, threading his fingers through Danny's hair as they kissed. He tasted of the bitter black coffee and chocolate ice cream. Danny leaned into the kiss, pushing Dash up against the door. He had no idea where this put their relationship, but at the moment, he didn't care. He didn't want to think. He only wanted to enjoy this kiss.


	26. Chapter 26

Dash stared, his sleepy brain still trying to process the prior night's events. He remembered everything that happened last night, but he woke up the next morning feeling like it was all a dream. A very good dream. But he almost couldn't believe he was waking up next to Fenton. Of all the people in the world, it had to be Fenton! Yet something about the whole thing just fit. It was natural and easy. He didn't feel that crushing pressure to be perfect when he was around Fenton. Maybe because Fenton already knew about his flaws.

Fenton's face scrunched up, and he grumbled something about having to get up. Maybe. It was hard to tell in his sleepy mumble. Dash closed his eyes, pretending to still be sleeping. A hand touched his cheek, the thumb gently stroking over his skin. He had a hard time keeping his breath steady. Then Fenton sighed, withdrawing his hand. The bed shifted, and Dash risked cracking open one of his eyes. Fenton sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the bed and his back to Dash. He leaned forward, raking his hands through his dark hair. At the nape of his neck, he laced his fingers and left his hands there as he hung his head. His body language screamed regret to Dash. His stomach dropped like a block of ice. He thought last night went well between them. Did Fenton decide otherwise in the light of a new day?

Fenton stood up, stumbling around his room to find a pair of cozy sweatpants to tug on. After pulling on a shirt too, he scratched at the back of his head as he walked out of the bedroom.

Dash laid in the bed, staring at the doorway. He didn't want to get up. He didn't want to have that talk where Fenton would try to let him down easy or whatever. Rolling onto his back, he rubbed his hands over his face. Did he ruin everything last night? That smear of ice cream by Fenton's mouth kept drawing Dash's attention to his lips, even after Fenton wiped it away. He just wanted to kiss those lips, and from how Fenton responded, he thought that feeling was mutual.

"Ugh!" Dash sat up, throwing the blankets off him. He didn't want to have that conversation, but it would drive him mad until he found out what was going on in Fenton's head. He climbed out of bed and searched around for his discarded clothes. As he tugged them on, he took a look around Fenton's room, something he didn't have an opportunity to do last night. It was mostly clean. Fenton left a few things lying around on the floor, some clothes and books. Over his bed, he still had a few posters taped up, like the one from the band Humpty Dumpty which fell out of popularity after high school. His desk had some scrolls of papers and scraps of tech that Kwan would probably have a better idea of understanding. A blueprint of a rocket ship hung, framed, on his wall, along with a certificate from space camp. Dash's mouth tugged into a small, fond smile.

Dash left the bedroom and headed down the hall to the stairs. He almost reached the bottom when heard voices. Leaning over the railing, he peered down the hall to the kitchen. He could just see Fenton in the doorway.

"This really isn't the best time," Fenton said with his back to Dash.

"I thought you wanted our help," said another man, but Dash wasn't sure if he recognized the voice. "But if it's unwanted, I can just leave. It might be a few days before I can visit again though."

Fenton set something down on the counter with bang. He turned his head to whomever else was in the kitchen. "You know perfectly well I need your help."

The man huffed, and Dash was certain he wasn't Bryce. For one, Fenton was definitely done with him and didn't even want to see him again. And for another, the man sounded nothing like Bryce. His voice was older, more mature and refined compared to the angry crybaby Dash witnessed last night.

"You didn't exactly give me the warmest of greetings."

Fenton moved away from the counter and almost disappeared from sight. Dash could just barely see part of his back through the doorway.

"Maybe," Fenton said heatedly, "I have a harder time forgiving you after you nearly killed me."

Silence fell over the kitchen. Dash's heart lodged somewhere in his throat. What was Fenton talking about? Who was he talking to? A thousand more questions ran through his head, and the journalist in him wanted to fire them all off to get answers. But he stayed very quiet, not moving even an inch for fear the stairs would creak and draw attention to him listening in on the conversation.

"I am truly sorry about my past actions, Daniel. I wasn't in my right mind. That's no excuse, but I want you to know I would never do anything like that again."

Fenton didn't respond right away. "You better not," he said in a tone that sent chills down Dash's spine. He walked back over to the kitchen counter, picking up the fork he left next to the bowl. Even from a distance, his body looked tense. "But that isn't the only reason." It was said in a lower tone, but even Dash heard it.

"I'm afraid you'll have to explain this other reason to me."

Fenton stopped what he was doing, sighing as his shoulders drooped. "You forced my hand. You made me out myself to my parents before I was ready. Everything might have worked out in the end, but that moment was absolutely terrifying for me. I had no idea how they would react to the truth. Yeah, I would have told them eventually, but I wanted to do it in my own time, my own way, and on my own terms. You took that away from me. That's something I can never get back. So yeah," he turned his head, glaring at the man in the kitchen, "I hate you for that."

"My sincerest apologies. I should never have taken that away from you."

Fenton sighed and went back to whisking what was in the bowl. "So what did you find out?" His tone was less hostile now.

"After examining the sample," the man sighed, "well, we determined it was rather unstable."

"I think that was obvious from the beginning."

"That wasn't the concerning part. It's not uncommon to find an unstable-"

"Yeah, yeah." Fenton waved him off. "I don't need you to explain things I already know."

"All right. Then how about this? From our examination, we've determined, it was alive."

The fork fell from Fenton's hand, hitting the rim of the bowl and clattering onto the counter. He turned his head, his eyes wide. "That's not possible."

"And yet, that's what the data says."

"But it-" Fenton groaned, rubbing at his forehead. "This is too much to process." He dropped his hand away. "How is that even possible?"

"We're still trying to figure that out. But someone must be behind this."

Fenton shook his head. "But who would even know how to do something like that?"

The man snorted. "Honestly, Daniel, do you think your parents and I are the only ones to research ghosts?"

"I-" Fenton growled. "Well, of course there are others! There's the Guys in White."

"Morons. They can't even tell their left foot from their right. Do you honestly see them being capable of something like this?"

"No." Fenton scowled. "But there hasn't exactly been any other organizations that have really made a name for themselves in this field other than the Guys in White."

"Yes, I suppose that's a fair point. Whoever did this must have kept to the shadows until now."

Dash leaned back slightly, trying to puzzle out their conversation. What was unstable? Why was Fenton shocked hearing it was alive? Who was he talking with? Fenton's parents? Ghosts? The Guys in White? His brain hurt trying to keep up with the conversation.

_Creak!_

Dash winced, pulling fully away from the railing. His snooping was done. Fenton and the mysterious man stopped talking. Dash held his breath, but a moment later, he heard footsteps coming down the hall from the kitchen. _Just play it cool_ , he told himself as he walked down the stairs.

"Dash!" Fenton met him at the bottom of the stairs. He looked a bit pale, his gaze flicking toward the kitchen.

Dash frowned as he followed Fenton's gaze. "Were you talking with someone?"

"Oh," Fenton stared toward the kitchen then turned back to Dash as he rubbed at his neck, "yeah. An unexpected guest."

"Must be something urgent if they're coming over this early in the morning."

"Yeah," Fenton chewed on his lip, "just work stuff."

Dash wasn't sure that conversation sounded like "work stuff," but he also couldn't say he knew exactly what Fenton did at Axiom Labs. "And it's not Valerie?" They didn't talk a lot about their jobs, but he got the impression Fenton mostly talked with Valerie when it came to work stuff. He hadn't mentioned anyone else at work, at least, and he seemed rather excited at the prospect of Kwan working with him. Maybe Dash shouldn't make assumptions, but that made it feel like Fenton didn't have many close relationships with the other people at his job.

Fenton shot him a mildly annoyed look, though his cheeks had a little more color now. "There are other people that work there, you know." He huffed. "It's Vlad Masters."

"Vlad-" Dash's eyes grew wide. "Like the dude that _owns_ the place where you and Val work?"

Fenton rolled his eyes. "Yes, that Vlad Masters."

"Why," Dash narrowed his eyes as his brow knitted, "is he coming to you to discuss work?" He grimaced when Fenton glowered. He recalled Fenton mentioning something about getting his job through "connections" and that Masters had offered him the job. But he still had to wonder why Masters was visiting Fenton at home instead of discussing work at work.

"He happens to be a family friend. He and my parents went to college together." Fenton shrugged like that information wasn't a big deal.

"Still," Dash folded his arms, "sounds like it must be something pretty big if someone so important is coming to talk to you personally about it."

Fenton shifted his weight, his gaze not meeting Dash's. Whatever it was, he didn't want to talk about it. At least, not with Dash. That fact put a bitter taste in Dash's mouth. "I can't really discuss it."

"Right." Dash turned toward the front door.

"Wait!" Fenton caught his arm. "Where are you going?"

When he turned back, Dash stared into Fenton's panicked blue eyes. "You don't want to talk about it."

"So you're just going to leave?" Fenton glared. "You can't tell me you've never been able to talk about work stuff before."

Dash started to argue, but he recalled last night when he teasingly wouldn't tell Fenton all the details he learned about for his article. "That's different. You're going to read about it when the article gets published. There's a high probability that you will never tell me anything about your work."

"That's not fair, and you know it." Fenton pointed a finger in his face. "I bet you don't demand answers from Val."

"I - Well, no." Dash frowned. It was true, and he knew it was a double standard. He couldn't argue that he wasn't sleeping with Valerie. That shouldn't matter if the information was supposed to be classified. But it didn't stop him from being frustrated about being kept in the dark. He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "I guess it's just the investigative journalist in me. I like to find the answers to things. When I can't get them, it drives me crazy."

"So," Fenton hunched his shoulders, "what are you saying? Is this going to be an ultimatum with us? I have to tell you everything you want to know or you're going to threaten to walk away?"

Dash growled, teeth clenched. "No! Of course not!" He took a breath, hoping it would help to calm him. "I know I can't expect you to tell me everything. Heck, I don't even know why you tell me anything sometimes."

Fenton blinked then sighed, tilting his head with a fond look in his eyes. "I think last night should have given you some clue."

Dash looked away quickly, his face heating up. "You didn't," he dared a small glace at Fenton, "regret it?"

Fenton stared, his eyes widening. "What?" he gasped. "Why would you think I regretted it?"

"Oh, I don't know!" Dash threw his hands up in the air. "Maybe because when you got up, you hunched over like you were thinking about last night and regretting every minute of it."

Fenton's mouth hung open. Then he moved in closer, glaring angrily as he jabbed his finger into Dash's chest. "If I was going to regret sleeping with you, I wouldn't have done it in the first place. I wanted to do it. And I enjoyed it! So don't get it into your head that I regret it!"

"Then why-"

"Because!" Fenton shouted, moving away. He turned in a circle, hands waving wildly in the air. "You saw! With Bryce! My past relationships haven't exactly worked out all that well. Val was great but obviously we weren't going to work out in the long run because we're just better as friends. And Sam, well, we probably should never have tried dating but we were both stupid and thought our feelings were more than what they were. Then college-" He held his face in his hands. "Ugh!" He dragged his hands away from his eyes. "It was the worst. Something always messed it up. And I don't want that to happen with us too."

Dash blinked at all of Fenton's rambling then blurted out a laugh. Fenton's face grew dark red, but panic was in his eyes again. "I don't know what messed up your relationships in college, and Bryce is just crazy." Dash walked over and took Fenton's face in his hands. "But I'm not planning on being another failed relationship for you. I know I was being stupid earlier about your work. But I realize that, and I'm going to try not being stupid like that again."

Fenton stared at him. After a minute, he groaned, leaning forward to rest his forehead on Dash's shoulder. "I don't want you to be another failed relationship either. And that got me even more stressed out."

A fond smile slipped onto Dash's face. He never imagined he would feel this way about Fenton, or how stressed _he_ would feel thinking about how Fenton might regret being with him. He rubbed Fenton's back. "Does this make us official?"

Fenton pulled back and stared at him, his eyes narrowing. "Is really a question you're asking?"

"We never actually said anything about dating or anything." Dash shrugged helplessly. "And after my last assumption turned out to be horribly wrong, I don't want to make that mistake again."

Fenton considered for a brief moment. "I see your point." He shook his head, an amused smile tugging at his mouth. "Then yes, I think this makes us official." Then he squinted his eyes. "Unless you don't want to date me."

Dash stifled a snort. Last night certainly wouldn't have happened if he had zero interest in Fenton. But he didn't want to offend Fenton by laughing at his doubt. "Of course I want to."

"Then we're official." Fenton grinned. It fell a moment later, panic setting into his eyes. "Oh my god, I'm dating Dash Baxter."

Dash laughed. "That's what you're freaking out about?"

Fenton's eyes flicked toward him. Then he slapped a hand over his eyes. "Oh my god, I slept with Dash Baxter!"

Dash laughed even harder. "Okay. I guess I'll let you absorb all of that. I should probably be heading out. Work and all that. New assignment." He shrugged. "I have to get some research done on it."

"Oh. Right." Fenton rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess there's still our jobs."

Dash's mouth twitched. He walked over to where he left his bag last night, sitting next to the table in the front hall. When he bent down to pick it up, he noticed something on the table. A business card sat there, but it was the name printed on it that really caught his attention: Evelyn Walker. So she had contacted Fenton already. She had a perfectly planned explanation for her interest in him, but Dash couldn't shake the feeling that she couldn't be fully trusted. He picked up his bag, slinging the strap over his shoulder as he stood up straight. "I guess if not before, I'll see you Saturday."

Fenton followed him to the front door, but he caught Dash's hand before he could reach the doorknob. "Wait." He kept his eyes lowered as he chewed on his lower lip, like he was struggling with whatever he wanted to say. "The reason Vlad is here is because I came across something recently." He hesitated, his hand squeezing ever so slightly around Dash's wrist. "It was a cat, but then it just," he grimaced, "melted into ectoplasm."

"Ecto-" Dash's face scrunched up, and he shook his head. "What do you mean melted?" His voice rose, but imagining a cat suddenly melting horrified him.

"It's exactly how it sounds. And since Vlad is pretty knowledgeable when it comes to ghosts, I wanted to discuss it with him."

"Why not your parents?" Dash's head was spinning.

"Because they're out of the country. Phone and internet reception isn't always the best where they are, and they wouldn't be able to examine the sample. Ectoplasm isn't exactly on the okay list of things to send through the mail, and even if I could, it would take a long time to ship to them. I kind of wanted answers sooner than later."

"Yeah," Dash paled, "I can see your point." He raked his hand through his hair, still trying to digest all this information. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because I trust that you know not to print everything you hear just for a story."

Dash snorted, anger building in the back of his throat. But not at Fenton. He was thinking about how Logan would have jumped at the idea of printing everything Fenton just told him. "Unlike _some_ journalists, I don't write articles just to get on the front page. Yeah, this sounds like the kind of story that would be front page worthy, but I know what being told something in confidence is. My friendships are far more important to me than writing a story."

"Exactly why I know I can trust you with this." Fenton smiled. "But I also felt like I needed you to know I wasn't keeping this from you to, like, keep secrets. This is-" He shook his head. "I don't even really know what. But it worries me."

"Yeah," Dash agreed. Even he knew a cat melting into ectoplasm was bad. If the story got out to the public with no understanding of what caused it, people might panic. "I hope you can figure it all out before it starts happening more often."

"Which is why I desperately need Vlad's help on this."

Dash nodded. "I'm really sorry if I made you feel pressured into telling me about this."

Fenton shook his head. "You didn't. I made the decision for myself." His reassuring smile made Dash relax.

It was weird to think he was actually worried about ruining what he had with Fenton. They didn't have the greatest relationship in the past, but meeting up now, it felt almost like getting a fresh start. They still had issues from the past. Dash would never say things were perfect between them now. But without the whole drama of high school, he enjoyed getting to know Fenton more.

Dash nodded. "I hate to run out like this-"

"Work. I know." Fenton chuckled. "You don't need to explain."

"Right." Dash cracked a smile. "Then I guess I'll see you later." He leaned in, almost hesitating, but Fenton was happy to return the kiss.

With their goodbyes said, Dash stepped outside. He waved to Fenton, loitering in the doorway. Then he turned and walked down the street. The whole story didn't sit well with him, but the mention of a cat nagged at his mind. It seemed like an odd detail to focus on, but he had learned to trust his instincts after years of working as an investigative journalist. There was something there, though. He was sure of it.


	27. Chapter 27

Danny was still smiling when he closed the door after Dash left. He never imagined last night turning out the way it did. He was prepared to be in a foul mood all night after he ran into Bryce, but somehow, being with Dash made him completely forget about it.

His smile fell, and Danny rubbed at his forehead. He had enough past relationships to worry about this whole thing with Dash not working out. He always tried his best, but eventually, they always sensed he was hiding something from them. It always turned into a fight, and Danny couldn't tell them the truth. He couldn't tell them he was half ghost or that he was the famous Phantom. Dash being an investigative journalist only made his worry increase. He already showed he didn't let things go easily with his persistence to get an interview from Phantom.

Danny chewed on his lip. With them dating, Dash might pay too close attention to him and grow suspicious of things, like if Danny ever had to run out at odd times to deal with a ghost.

"Oh good, he's gone," Vlad said dryly, and Danny tensed up, only now recalling his presence. "I might have had to throw up this coffee if I had to listen to any more of that."

Danny spun around, shooting a glare at him. "Oh, you're still here."

Vlad sipped his coffee, and he definitely looked amused about Danny's annoyance. "How much of that conversation do you think he overheard?"

Danny frowned. He hoped Dash missed the majority of what they said, but he feared Dash probably heard more than he should have. "Let's just finish our discussion so you can go."

"And I thought we had a moment. You wound me, Daniel."

"I can do a lot worse." Danny held up a fist, glowing green.

"Must we resort to such violence, Daniel? I thought we were past that."

Danny gritted his teeth. Sometimes, he hated having matured from being a brash fourteen year old. "You really like making it difficult to forgive you." He dropped his hand, the glow slowly fading away. He walked past Vlad on his way into the kitchen. "Now do you want to explain to me how exactly something that's still alive can just," he gestured with his hands, "dissolve into ectoplasm?"

"Do I really need to explain that?" Vlad gave him a bored look as he walked over to the kitchen table. "We both know quite well how something like that is possible."

Frowning, Danny stared into the bowl of eggs he was preparing for breakfast. His mind immediately went to all the clones Vlad created, especially Elle. "But how could someone copy any of your technology?"

"Daniel, honestly." Vlad shook his head, placing his mug down on the table. "Do you think we were the only ones coming up with those ideas? We based our projects off ideas we found while researching ghosts. Naturally, not all of it was accurate and a lot of it was mostly theories people had. I'm sure some of our research is still left in the university archives. If anyone attending the university went looking, they could find it."

"That's reassuring," Danny muttered.

"Not everything is there, but some of it." Vlad walked over to stand next to him. "We weren't the only ones theorizing that ghosts resided in another dimension. But we made sure never to include anything about our research into the Ghost Portal. I guess even Jack can have a good idea once in a while."

Danny shot him a glare. "Dad isn't an idiot."

"Not all the time, I'll agree with you there." Vlad's eyes twinkled with mirth. He was getting too much amusement out of poking his buttons, and Danny almost groaned when he realized that must be where Dan got it. "I do seem to recall being asked about my ghost research." He folded his arms, his mouth pursing thoughtfully. "She seemed rather insistent about getting answers out of me for an article, but I told her I wouldn't be answering anything about that research. Call me paranoid." He shrugged.

"You're just now remembering something like that?" Danny shot him a flat stare.

"It was a busy time. I was trying to smooth things over after a mishap with a new invention ended up injuring a few engineers. One of them died. I offered payment to the family, but I don't think they were very fond of my apology. It was a complete accident. No one could foresee it happening, and I was very sorry that it happened. I may not have been in my best mind back then, but even I didn't want an accident like that to happen." He frowned, tapping a finger against his bicep. "Though now that I think about that whole thing, I don't recall that article ever being published."

"Let me guess. You don't remember that person's name either."

"As I said, I was busy." Vlad shot him an unpleasant glare. "Now getting back to the matter at hand. If someone's experimenting on living creatures, I fear they may not wait too long before moving up to human test subjects."

"But what are they trying to do?" Not having an answer to that question left him feeling too sick to consider eating breakfast. "They can't possibly know about us. Only my family and friends and Val know about what we are. And, well, the ghosts, but they hardly count since they would never say a word about us to living people."

"That's what your parents and I are hoping to figure out with some more research. Hopefully, we'll figure this all out before they succeed with whatever they're attempting to do."

Danny nodded his agreement. "Keep me posted on anything new you find out." He narrowed his eyes mildly when Vlad rolled his eyes like the request didn't need to be said. Then he sighed, bowing his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Now I have to go tell Val, Sam, and Tucker about this. Sam is not going to be happy." He almost wanted to stay silent about this development. He could already picture Sam hopping onto the next flight to Amity Park. But if he didn't tell her, Valerie or Tucker would. He didn't want Sam to be angry with him.

"I notice you didn't mention Jazz."

Danny lifted his head, and Vlad watched him with curiosity. "Jazz seems happy. I don't like getting her involved in all of this," he waved his hand, gesturing at the kitchen, "stuff if I can help it. Although," his mouth twitched, "it would be amusing to see her reaction to Dan. I'm sure he would enjoy Jazz psycho analyzing him."

"Are you trying to punish him?" Vlad cocked an eyebrow.

Danny frowned. "Maybe she should psycho analyze you too."

Vlad snorted. "You think I haven't had enough of that between Jazz and Spectra?"

"Oh, please tell me they tagged team you." Danny grinned at Vlad's scowl. "Don't act like you didn't need it."

"You're quite right. I did. I have one question before I go."

"Yeah?" Danny eyed him with hesitant suspicion. With Vlad, it was difficult to know what to expect from him.

"Were you ever planning on telling your parents about Dan?"

"I had hoped it was something that would never come up." Danny grabbed a pan and set it on one of the burners of the stovetop. "Sometimes, ignorance seems better. Why make them worry about an alternate timeline where I did really bad things? Honestly? I wasn't really prepared to tell them after Dan showed up again. But it seemed like something Dan really needed." He turned his head, reaching out, but he still couldn't sense Dan anywhere.

Vlad nodded. "I should head back now. Can't leave Jack unsupervised for too long."

Danny glowered. "He's not that bad. And besides, Mom's there to make sure he doesn't cause too much trouble."

Vlad smirked, which only made Danny's glare darken. "Try not to be too late for work." With that, he headed down the stairs into the laboratory to use the Portal.

Danny turned his head to check the time on the microwave then cursed. He was going to be late if he didn't hurry. After frying up the scrambled eggs, and burning his mouth as he shoveled it in once it was finished, he jogged back up stairs to his room. He didn't have the time to loiter around for long, but his face burned when he glanced to the ruffled blankets of his bed. It felt like some crazy dream, but the reality of it made him feel perhaps a little giddy with happiness. He hadn't felt this way about being in a relationship in a long time. He just hoped his secret didn't ruin it all like it had in the past.

After getting dressed, Danny grabbed his things then headed out the front door. The drive to Axiom Labs was frustratingly slow. He wondered, repeatedly, why he didn't simply fly to work, but he had to give the appearance of being a normal person, sometimes. When he walked into the building, Oscar looked up long enough to give him a scowl as Danny walked past him on the way to the elevators.

Shaking his head as the doors closed, Danny hit the button to go up to Valerie's office. After his talk with Vlad, he felt like he had a lot to tell her, but he also felt like they were no closer to figuring out anything. Before he forgot, he sent quick texts to Sam and Tucker, nothing too detailed. The message basically said that Vlad had learned a few things about the cat, but they were still trying to figure what it all meant. He frowned at his phone as the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Sam would probably demand more information. Sighing, he stepped off the elevator. He would deal with that later.

When he reached Valerie's office, Danny knocked on the open door. She lifted her head then frowned when she spotted him. She waved him in, and he stepped into the office, closing the door behind him.

"What's up?" Valerie set down her pen as she leaned back in her chair. "Nothing good, I assume."

"Just a visit from Vlad." Danny shrugged then plopped down in the chair before her desk.

"Have you two made up yet?" Valerie wore a hint of a smirk.

Danny rolled his eyes. "If you don't want to hear what Vlad had to say, I could just leave." He pointed back to the door with his thumb.

"Oh, how very mature of you."

"I am very mature, thank you very much." Danny grinned, and she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay." Valerie waved a hand. "Just tell me what Vlad had to say."

His expression fell, a serious look entering his eyes. "They think the cat was alive."

Valerie stared at him, her face hard to read. "That cat didn't look alive. And if it were-" She shook her head. "I don't like what that might imply."

"I know exactly what you mean." Danny sighed, sinking down in his chair. Whether they liked it or not, they couldn't ignore the facts. A living cat that looked ghostly and dissolved into ectoplasm like an unstable ghost? Danny didn't want to believe that someone out there might have developed their own Ghost Portal or somehow thought up the idea of trying to create a half ghost. "But they're still researching the sample. I just wish that information gave us a lead to find whomever is behind all of this."

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Valerie smiled grimly, her mouth tight. "But that would be too easy."

"I'm okay with easy." Danny guessed this was good experience for learning to track down threats other than ghosts, but that didn't make the whole thing any less frustrating. He wanted to know who this threat was before anything worse happened.

"If we were in danger of not stopping this person, I assume Clockwork would step in."

Danny frowned as he picked at the armrest. "I suppose there is that."

"Maybe Dash could be of some help."

Danny jerked his head up, his insides twisting. "Dash-" His voice squeaked, and he coughed to clear it as he sat up straighter. "Why would you bring up Dash?"

Valerie cocked an eyebrow at him. "Because he's an investigative journalist and those skills may come in handy."

"Oh," Danny laughed awkwardly, "right. But how exactly would we go about asking him for help? 'Hey, Dash, this might sound weird, but we need you to look around for any information about someone potentially messing around with ghost tech.' I think he'd probably start asking questions."

Valerie stared at him with an unnerving gaze. "I guess you have a point." She shrugged.

Danny coughed again, shifting in his chair. "So, uh, how good would you say Dash is at his job?"

"Why do you ask?"

Danny hunched up his shoulders, looking away. "Just, you know," _afraid he might figure out the truth_ , "curious."

"Oh, yeah, that was believable." Valerie rolled her eyes before landing a flat stare on him. "How about you tell me what this really about now?"

Danny sighed. Valerie knew him too well not to see right through him. "He was there, at the house, when Vlad was talking to me. I can't say how much he might have overheard." He rubbed at his neck, not meeting her gaze. He couldn't remember, but he hoped they were vague enough that maybe Dash wouldn't put the pieces together.

Valerie continued staring then lowered her head, holding a hand to her forehead. "Danny, why-" Her head snapped up again. "Why was Dash at your house?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Um, you know." Danny's cheeks warmed.

Valerie laughed so loudly and suddenly that Danny jolted. "Oh, I want details! How exactly did this happen?"

When she grinned, Danny almost wanted to turn invisible and run away from the conversation. "It just-" He rolled a shoulder. "We ran into each other last night when I was patrolling. We talked." He decided not to mention the whole encounter with Bryce. "He walked home with me. I, uh, invited him in for coffee." He shrugged again. "It just kind of happened."

"Just happened." Valerie snorted. "Right." Her mouth curved slightly upward.

"Ugh!" Danny groaned as he climbed to his feet. "I have work to do."

"Danny," Valerie called, and Danny paused at the door, turning back to her. "Just remember. Dash isn't like Bryce."

"Well, duh."

Valerie shook her head. "I mean, he's not a moron. He's not going to get stupidly jealous over nothing. But more importantly, he's known you for years. If you were, I don't know, willing to tell him the truth, I don't think it would drive him away."

"Is that why you haven't said anything to him?"

"I'm not the one who slept with him."

Danny turned his head, his face definitely had to be as red as a tomato. "I guess that's a fair point." He stepped out of the office. As the door thumped shut, his heart stuttered in his chest. He wanted his relationship with Dash to work out, and Valerie might be right about telling him the truth. But uncertainty still weighed on his mind. What if Dash couldn't accept who he truly was? Shaking his head, Danny headed to his office.


	28. Chapter 28

Dash dropped his bag onto his couch with a heavy sigh. Too much had happened for him to fully process on an empty stomach. He walked over to the kitchen and poked around inside his refrigerator for something to eat. Grabbing the eggs and a package of sausages, he got to work whipping up his breakfast. A frown settled onto his face. Eating breakfast with Fenton would have made for a perfect morning, but he did have work he needed to get done, research to dive into, and hopefully he could get started on his next big story.

With his breakfast in hand, Dash walked back over to the couch. He set the plate down on the table then pulled his laptop out of his bag. As his laptop booted up, he leaned back on the couch, eating his breakfast. His focus should be on his next story, but he kept thinking back to the conversation he overheard.

"How the hell can he work for someone he said nearly killed him?" Just thinking about that moment, the anger in Fenton's voice, had Dash feeling the need to punch something. Preferably the face of Vlad Masters, but he suspected that wouldn't go over well for Fenton.

Dash took a deep breath and released it slowly. The anger lingered, but the desire to punch something faded. He didn't understand it. He wanted answers. But he doubted Fenton would be willing to give him those answers. After setting down his plate, he rubbed a hand over his face. Why did he have to listen to that conversation? Now he had too many questions.

"Just focus on your work," Dash muttered as he turned his attention to his laptop. He scrolled through his notes, reviewing everything he had gleaned while scanning through all the past articles about Phantom.

He sat back suddenly. "And why is Evelyn Walker so interested in Fenton?" He glared at the laptop screen. He understood that Fenton was probably the best person to ask about ghosts, currently, in Amity Park. His gut instinct, however, told him there was something more to her pursuing Fenton.

Dash brought up his browser and typed in her name. The same pages came up, and he doubted he would learn anything new about her from going over the same news articles again and again. Nothing in them suggested anything sinister. On page, she sounded like a shrewd business woman but one with a heart. Walker Corporations did as she said and tried to better the world. A lot of it was focused on medicine, especially in helping provide medical aid to countries where it was greatly needed. Maybe he was just being cynical in believing the whole thing was a false face she showed to the public.

"That was unhelpful." Dash frowned, his leg shaking as his eyes continued to scan one of the articles. He still couldn't find anything new. His next best step would be to interview some of the employees, if he could convince them to speak candidly with him. He had doubts they would say anything if something suspicious was going on behind closed doors.

After a few more minutes, he closed the tab and put his focus back on Phantom. He stared at his notes, and his attention drew back to the gap in time when Phantom was active. He still had no answers about that, and now he felt like it would be strange to bring it up to Fenton. His original reason for going to Fenton's house was to ask about Phantom. He didn't want it to sound like that was the only interest he had in Fenton. His feelings really had grown for him during all the time they spent together.

Dash stared at the last date Phantom was seen before his reappearance. Something about the date nagged at him. What was it? And why did he only focus on it after thinking about Fenton? He thought about the fight. He remembered it, even though Phantom had fought that mechanical ghost weirdo before. Mostly, he recalled the fight because it was last time he saw Phantom before he left for college at the end of summer.

"Huh."

Dash's gaze dropped to the date when Phantom next appeared. The gap in time was roughly six years. When he considered it, that was enough time to attend a college or university then spend a bit of time at a job, or two, before coming back to Amity Park. That timeline matched closely to his own life, except he spent an extra year in New York. He knew Fenton went to college out of state, but when he returned, Dash couldn't say for certain. His gaze flicked to his phone, and he was tempted to call Valerie and ask her about when Fenton started working for her.

"What the hell am I thinking?" Dash raked a hand through his hair. Was he really thinking that there was some connection between Phantom's years of inactivity and Fenton going off to college? Dash got up and walked back to his kitchen, yanking open the refrigerator. He didn't even know what he was looking for, except that he needed to get up and move. He had to be losing his mind if he thought Phantom and Fenton were connected.

But wasn't there a sort of sense to it?

"Ugh, stop being crazy." Dash slammed the door shut then rubbed a hand over his face.

How convenient that Fenton was always missing whenever Phantom showed up to fight.

"Nope. Stop it. That's not true." Dash shook the thought from his head. "If he were really Phantom, why would he keep talking to me after his fights with ghosts? Until getting drinks that one night, Fenton was probably terrified to talk to me."

But Phantom always showed more confidence than Fenton. Maybe being Phantom allowed him the opportunity to talk to Dash without the fear of being harassed for being a "loser" like in high school.

Dash growled at the sense that made. "Ha!" He snapped his fingers, grinning. "But how exactly do you explain Fenton being Phantom? That's not possible. Fenton's human. Phantom's a ghost."

Fenton answered that already. No, it wasn't a full answer, but it provided some direction toward an idea. Fenton said the cat was alive. How could something living melt into a puddle of ectoplasm? More importantly, when it was mentioned, Fenton sounded freaked out by the idea. Why was that? Reviewing what he heard of the conversation, Dash looked at it in a new light. If Fenton was indeed Phantom, it would come as no surprise that he would panic if he heard about something he thought was a ghost was actually still alive. It would mean someone, potentially, tried to create another Phantom: something that was alive but had the abilities of a ghost.

But why would someone do that? How would they even know how to do that? Or was the whole thing with the cat a complete accident?

Dash chewed on his thumbnail, trying to puzzle it all out. It still didn't give him the answer he was seeking. How did Fenton become Phantom? He could make all the theories he wanted, but he would never know the real answer until it came from Fenton himself.

"No." Dash shook his head vehemently. He wasn't going to ask. He couldn't. This wasn't an answer he could demand of Fenton. If he wanted Dash to know the truth, Fenton would tell him. It could be tomorrow, or it could be ten years from now. Dash would wait. There was also the possibility he was entirely wrong about Fenton being Phantom.

"All right, Dash. Focus on your work." He stared at his laptop like he could will the information he needed into being. His notes from his interview with Evelyn Walker provided even less help than what he could find on the internet about her. She gave away nothing that she didn't want him to know. With a groan, he threw himself back on the couch and raked his hand through his hair. He wasn't getting anywhere like this, and his mind kept turning back to the whole "Phantom is Fenton" theory.

Dash stood up and headed for the bathroom. A quick shower felt good but didn't help clear his head. Once he got dressed, he grabbed his phone and his bag then left his apartment. He slung his bag over his shoulder as he typed out a text message. Then he slipped his phone into his pocket. After he left the building, he headed down the street. He ran his hand through his hair, his thoughts a scrambled mess turning over in circles.

If his theory was right, how would he react when Fenton told him the truth? The whole thing was a huge shock. He almost couldn't believe it with all he knew laid out right in front of him, practically trying to bash through his hard head to make him see the truth. But anyone would feel some sense of disbelief hearing it for the first time. Was it really that big of a deal? Yes, of course it was. But would it change anything about how he felt toward Fenton? No. He already developed feelings toward Fenton ever since their night out at the bar Mirage, even if it took him a while to realize it. Finding out that Fenton was Phantom didn't change that.

Dash stopped walking, holding a hand over his mouth. All of this would mean he slept with his hero. He bowed his head, rubbing at his eyes. It also meant he used to bully his hero. How many times would have to apologize for his past? He recognized how bad his behavior was, but back then it was the only outlet he could find for his anger. But he already talked with Fenton on that topic. He knew that didn't put the nail in the conversation's coffin, but he thought it definitely helped put them in a better place.

He arrived at a small cafe between his apartment and Elm Street. When he reached the front of the line, he ordered a coffee then found a table to sit at while he waited. His eyes remained on the door, watching as people entered and exited. He perked up when he spotted who was waiting for. Her head turned this way and that way until she noticed Dash. She hurried over to his table, dropping her bag onto the chair as she let out a breath.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

Dash shook his head. "Not at all, Kylie. I pretty much just got here."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. And how much is left of that coffee?"

Dash peeked into his cup. "It's about half way."

Kylie shook her head. "Just let me grab a latte." She hurried to get in line.

Dash brought out his phone, looking over his notes, again. He didn't expect to find anything after the number of times he read through them, but something did stick out to him upon another review.

"Okay." Kylie set her bag on the ground as she took a seat across from him. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Dash set his phone down on the table. "As you probably already know, I was asked to write an article about your boss."

"Right." Kylie nodded. "That's why Ms. Walker wanted to meet with you."

"Yeah. But she wasn't exactly forthcoming with a lot of information. I thought perhaps you could tell me more about her. After all, if I'm going to do her justice with this article, I should know more about what kind of person she is."

Kylie's brow furrowed just slightly. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"You've been her assistant for how long?"

"Oh, um," Kylie pushed back a lock of her dark hair, tucking it behind her ear, "I've been working at her company for about six years, but I became Ms. Walker's assistant about two, two and a half years ago."

"I bet you have stories to tell about that."

Kylie tilted her head. "Stories?"

"Yeah." Dash chuckled. "I mean, when I was just starting out at a newspaper company in New York, my boss could be a real nightmare. I can't tell you the number of times he sent me out to get coffee for everyone then had it thrown in my face because he decided the order was wrong. Even though I had gotten it correct."

"Oh." Kylie ducked her head, her cheeks growing pinker. "I guess there are times when she can seem a bit unreasonable with her demands. Ah!" She lifted her head, waving a hand in front of her. "But she's not, like, cruel or anything. You're not going to write that, are you?"

Dash shook his head. "Not unless you're about to tell me she's physically harmed you."

"Oh, no!" Kylie shook her head. "Ms. Walker has never hurt anyone! Her whole goal is to better help people."

Dash smiled, perhaps with a bit of a grimace. "Right. But I'm sure she's had some outrageous requests for you. Like taking her cat to the vet or something."

"Her cat?" A look entered her eyes, but it disappeared too quickly for Dash to register what it was.

"I saw a photo of it in her office." Dash shrugged. "She seemed pretty fond of it. So I thought she might have asked you to do various tasks involving-" He snapped his fingers. "Oh, what was the name?"

"Benny?"

Dash grinned as he pointed at her. "That's the one. Benny."

Kylie shook her head. "No, she's never asked me to do anything like that. She doesn't really like anyone else taking care of Benny."

Dash nodded. The topic of the cat still bothered him, but he pressed on, asking other questions about Ms. Walker. The answers were disappointing. He had hoped, maybe, Kylie would have some dirt on Ms. Walker that she might let slip. Sadly, Kylie's answers were mostly glowing praise.

"Is that all you wanted to ask?" Kylie finished off her latte.

"I believe so." Dash pocketed his phone. "Thanks for meeting with me."

Kylie smiled. "I hope I was helpful."

"Absolutely." Dash stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "I think I should have enough to write up that article now."

"Oh, good. I look forward to reading it." Kylie walked with him toward the exit, and they dropped their coffee cups in the trash by the door.

When they stepped outside, it had darkened, thick gray clouds blocking out the sky. Dash regretted not grabbing his umbrella on the way out the door, but he hadn't expected it to rain. He glanced sideways. Kylie rubbed at her arms, her lightweight blouse probably not helping much against the slight chill in the air. Before he could say anything, a scream drew their attention. Dash snapped his head toward the source.

A pair of teenagers darted into a grocery shop as a large dog snapped at their heels. The dog didn't follow them inside, letting the door close behind the teens, but it stood there growling. He could immediately identify it as a ghost by its green fur. He encountered a few ghosts of animals in the past. The majority of those were during times when Phantom was stopping the ghost from harming anyone. But there was one time, after a particularly bad fight with his father, when Dash met a happy little ghost puppy. He was still horrified thinking about what might have happened to the puppy to cause him to become a ghost in death. The puppy seemed only interested in trying to cheer him up, which it did in the end. There were some days, when he was feeling down, that he wished he would meet that puppy again.

This ghost dog, however, did not look to be the friendly type. Dash gulped.

"That-" Kylie grabbed onto his arm, reminding Dash of her presence. "That's one of those ghosts?"

"Don't worry." Dash patted her hand. "I'm sure Phantom-"

Kylie screamed.

Dash reacted too slowly. He turned just as the dog lunged at them. He pushed Kylie back. The ghost dog sank its fangs into his arm. His back slammed against the door of the cafe. A shout ripped from him as pain bloomed through his forearm. Dash normally would never hurt an animal, but he kicked the dog as hard as he could to get it off him. The dog whined after it released his arm. Then the dog turned back on him with a snarl. His heart jumped into his throat as he clutched his arm to his chest. Normally, animals seemed to like him well enough. He never had one attack him.

The dog launched at him again. A blast of green made the dog jump back.

Phantom dropped down in front of him. "Are you all right?" His gaze stayed focused on the ghost, but Dash still tucked his arm behind his back, trying not to wince as the action sent a wave of pain stabbing up his arm.

"Yeah, yup, perfect."

Phantom's gaze flicked toward him with the slightest furrowing of his brow. Then he focused back on the ghost. The dog bared sharp teeth. A beat passed where they stared each other down. Then they moved at the same instance, the fight beginning.

"So that's that Phantom guy?"

Dash tore his gaze from the fight. "Uh, yeah." He gave her a grimacing grin. "I told you he'd show up."

Kylie frowned, and her eyes seemed to focus on the arm behind his back. "That looked pretty bad. We should probably get it checked on."

Dash glanced back to Phantom, who managed to leash the dog, but the dog wasn't giving up easily. "It's really not that bad." He waved his arm, the one the dog bit.

"You're bleeding." Kylie glared at him, a look that reminded him of whenever Valerie or Paulina wouldn't take no for an answer. "We're getting that checked out." She grabbed his other hand and pulled him along down the street. Dash tossed one last glance back to Phantom as he went without protesting.


	29. Chapter 29

Dan slammed his fist into his face, grinding his teeth as he watched his clone fall back into the ropes of the ring. The clone wiped at his face, smearing pink blood over his upper lip. When the clone moved in and threw a punch, Dan blocked it then landed a punch in his side. The clone grunted.

"How long have you been at this?"

Dan dropped his fighting stance as he turned. His clone fused back into him, and Dan immediately regretted it as he was hit with the pain of every punch he landed on the clone. He grimaced as he rubbed at his side. "What are you doing here?" He walked over to the side of the ring where Danny was standing, arms resting over the top rope.

"You kind of disappeared on us. I didn't sense you anywhere, so I figured you might be here." Danny shrugged. "Is there, uh, anything you want to talk about?"

"No." Dan turned his head, glaring at one of the punching bags hanging along the far wall. He tried not to think too much about what happened last night, but beating up his clone didn't stop him from recalling the terror on Kwan's face and in his voice. His hands tightened around the rope. Maybe this was all a sign. He simply wasn't meant to know love. Why did he deserve love anyway? He was just a monster.

"Look, Dan." Danny sighed. "I know our relationship hasn't been the greatest. And maybe I should have followed up with Clockwork after our fight. But I want you to know that if you need to talk to someone, I'm here."

Dan rolled his eyes. "Of course you are. Mr. Goody Two Shoes always has to lend a helping hand, even to his enemies."

"Are we really still enemies?"

Dan frowned. "No, but the comment still stands."

"Yeah, I suppose I can't argue there. But wanting to help people isn't a bad thing."

"So what did you want? I'm guessing you didn't come looking for me just to force out a heart to heart with me."

Danny stared at him for a long moment. "I did consider having you teach me some of this boxing stuff. But you look pretty beat up."

Dan snorted. "You need the handicap to beat me."

Danny shook his head. "Keep telling yourself that. But actually, I wanted to tell you about what Vlad found out." His mouth pursed. "Vlad _and_ my parents."

Dan cracked a smirk. "Can't let him take all the credit." He waved a hand. "What did he have to say about the cat?"

"When we came across him, the cat was still alive."

Dan jerked back from the rope, his eyes widening. "You're shitting me."

"I wish. But you know Vlad wouldn't joke or lie about something like this."

Dan slammed his fist down on the rope. He didn't need any further explanation to jump to a conclusion. Maybe it wasn't the right conclusion, but the idea of it angered him. "Any chance it was an accident?"

"We can hope." Danny pulled out his phone and frowned as he stared at the screen. "I can't imagine anyone else figuring out how to do it though. Vlad and I were both complete accidents."

"Is your phone more interesting than someone potentially trying to make other half ghosts?"

Danny jerked his head up. "Oh, uh, I gave Tucker and Sam a brief update. I was just checking their replies. Tucker says he can look into seeing if there's anyone that might be capable of inventing anything related to ghosts."

"Could be useful." Dan turned to lean back against the ropes as he folded his arms. "Forgive me if I'm a bit doubtful on him turning up anything."

"Hey! Tucker's a tech whiz. If there's something to find, I'm sure he'll dig it up."

"I'm sure he can. I'm just not sure there's anything _for_ him to dig up."

Danny pressed his mouth thin, like he agreed with Dan but tried not to say it. "Anyway, Sam's about ready to hop on a plane and fly here to help out. I keep telling her it's not really worth risking her job."

Dan snorted. "I guess she really hasn't changed much. She was always eager to help out when it came to ghost fighting." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Probably selfish of me to say, but I really hope she doesn't come. After our last meeting, I doubt she's eager to meet me again."

Danny shrugged. "She could surprise you. I mean, I've pretty much forgiven what you did. You don't exactly make it easy, but," he sighed, "I'm kind of a sucker for giving people second chances."

Dan grunted. He hoped Danny wasn't the only one that believed in second chances. Lowering his gaze, he couldn't imagine Kwan giving him another chance after everything he found out about last night. He gritted his teeth thinking about it and had the strong urge to punch himself in the face yet again.

"Are you sure there's nothing you want to talk about?"

Dan glanced over to find Danny staring at him with genuine curiosity and concern. "You know," he sneered, "you don't always have to take other people's problems onto your shoulders."

"I know you've been isolated for a long time, but there's this thing called friendship. Friends listen to each other and help each other. It's not about burdening myself with other people's problems."

Dan groaned. "You're such a goody two shoes. I can't believe I was you for the first fourteen years of my life." Then he narrowed his eyes, flicking his gaze over Danny. "Since when are we friends?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Maybe not friends, exactly, but you can't say we aren't involved in each other's lives."

Dan huffed. "I guess that's true."

"So?" Danny prompted with an expectant look in his eyes.

"I've got nothing to talk about."

"Oh, come on!" Danny gestured with one arm at the boxing ring. "You were beating yourself up when I came in. There has to be something."

"Nothing. I just wanted to get more training in. We don't know when we'll have to face this threat, and I can't think of a better sparring partner than myself." He smirked when Danny glowered at him.

"Fine." Danny threw his hands up. "Keep your secrets."

"That was the plan." Dan smirked. "Now," he stepped back, cracking his knuckles, "did you want to train or what?"

Danny climbed into the ring. "I hope you're ready for another beating."

"Ha! In your dreams." Dan grinned as he held up his fists.

Though he would never admit it out loud, Dan was impressed by how much Danny had grown since their first encounter. He was swifter, more aware of his surroundings to dodge or block attacks. They were much more evenly matched now, but Dan wanted to chalk that up to the fact that he spent so long crammed into that stupid Thermos. They traded blows, and as much as he tried to focus on the fight, Dan's mind kept wandering back to Kwan. He still didn't even understand how Kwan saw what happened in his timeline.

A fist smashed him squarely in the face.

"Is your head in the fight?" Danny asked, frowning as he lowered his arms. "You should have been able to dodge that."

"I should asked you that." Dan huffed. "You barely put anything into that puny punch."

Danny looked away, scratching behind one ear. "I guess we both have other things on our mind."

"Still thinking about what Vlad said?" Dan rubbed absently at his nose. The punch hadn't hurt, but his nose still throbbed lightly.

Danny shook his head. He stayed quiet for a moment then sighed. "After I talked with Val about what Vlad said, I sensed a ghost. When I got there, it was a ghost dog. I took him to Ivan. He's usually pretty good with ghost dogs that are, um, less than friendly."

"Right," Dan said slowly, tapping his foot as he waited for Danny to get to the point.

Danny scowled but took the hint. "Anyway, maybe it was a case of wrong place, wrong time, but the dog seemed to be attacking Dash when I arrived."

"Got to play hero for your crush then?" Dan cracked a smirk.

"Ugh, you're so annoying sometimes."

"Thank you."

Danny rolled his eyes. "It wasn't a difficult fight. But when I finished and turned around, Dash was gone. And some random guy ran up, asking a million questions, but I just got out of there as fast as possible."

"So you're mad he wasn't there to praise you?" Dan tried not to smirk too hard. He could guess who that random guy was.

"No," Danny snapped then groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's not what bothers me. Normally, Dash hangs around after a fight to try to convince me to give him an interview. So it's weird that he just," he waved a hand, "left." He pressed his mouth thin. "He said he was okay. I - Maybe I got there too late. What if he got hurt?"

"He's not a child, and he knows about ghosts. If he got hurt," Dan shrugged, "maybe he got it checked out. And he probably wouldn't tell you he was hurt because it would distract you from the ghost you needed to fight."

"Maybe." Danny still frowned in doubt.

Dan huffed. As much as he wanted to tease Danny for being a worry wart, he still worried about Kwan. Whatever that was, he still didn't understand any of it. Kwan might not have been physically hurt, but he felt the pain of what happened to him in Dan's timeline. How that was possible, Dan couldn't begin to guess. But now that Kwan knew the truth about him, Dan doubted Kwan would want anything to do with him.

Dan punched Danny on the shoulder, not too hard. "You're only worrying this much because you care so much about him. But in a fight, you can't let your worry for him distract you. That's how you'll end up hurt."

Danny rubbed at his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah. Okay. I get it. I shouldn't worry so much. I don't even know that Dash got hurt. I'm just jumping to conclusions right now." He sighed as he raked his hand through his hair. "Are you going to come back with me? Or," he waved awkwardly at the ring, "are you planning to beat yourself up some more?"

Dan cracked his knuckles. "I'm always looking to get stronger." He rolled his shoulder in a half shrug. "But I guess taking a break is good too."

"And I guess," Danny climbed out of the ring, "asking you about what's bugging you is pointless."

"Nothing's bugging me." Dan followed him, and together they left the boxing gym. "I'm absolutely peachy."

Danny looked doubtful but thankfully let the topic drop as they flew back to the Portal. Stepping into the laboratory, Dan wanted to turn back around and fly off through the Ghost Zone. He knew sulking around there wouldn't do him any good, though. Life, or afterlife, felt easier when all he had to feel was anger. He wasn't prepared for things like love. As Danny, he had little experience with dating. As Vlad, those feelings of love were rather unhealthy. All those sappy romance movies felt even less helpful when faced with his current situation.

They both shifted back to human form, and Danny headed up the stairs. Dan followed at a slower pace, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. He bet Clockwork was having a good laugh at his misery. Was this the real reason Clockwork let him out of the Thermos? Dan wouldn't put it past the bastard.

Danny took out a pan and set it on the stove when Dan finally entered the kitchen. Dan glanced out the window. The light was fading. He scratched at his head. How long _did_ he spend beating himself up in the ring? He didn't have long to contemplate it when someone knocked on the front door.

Danny closed the refrigerator door with a heavy sigh. "Who could that be?" he mumbled as he walked out of the kitchen.

Dan stood in the kitchen, debating for a moment, then he followed. He needed to get out of his thoughts. They still had that threat Clockwork mentioned, and hunting down leads on that sounded like a good distraction to him. He walked into the front hall as Danny opened the door. He didn't have any real interest in whomever came to visit, unless it was Valerie. He doubted Kwan would stop by.

"Dash! What are you doing here?" Danny stepped aside to let Dash enter the house.

Dan tore his gaze away from examining the hall. He almost snorted when he watched the two of them. There was something in the way they looked at each other, that little smile and the way his eyes lit up when Danny saw Dash. Dan shook his head. No wonder Danny acted overly worried about Dash getting hurt. _They must have finally stopped being stupid last night_ , Dan thought. He bit back a smirk. It was about time.

"Yeah," Dash rubbed at his neck, "I know. Didn't think we'd see each other again before Saturday, but," he shrugged and lifted a bag from what looked like an Italian restaurant, "I thought we could have dinner."

"And I thought you'd actually cook for me."

"And spoil the surprise for Saturday?" Dash chuckled. "Anyway-" He looked over and spotted Dan.

"Oh, don't mind me." Dan grinned. "Pretend I'm not here." His grin stretched wider when he caught a tinge of pink dotting Danny's cheeks. "I have other things to do anyway."

"Let's grab some plates." Danny took Dash's hand and pulled him along toward the kitchen.

Dan started to head up the stairs but paused, glancing back to them. Neither of them were looking his way, so he shifted to invisible and moved a little closer to the kitchen. Danny grabbed some plates while Dash took off his coat to hang on the back of a chair at the kitchen table. Dan noticed the bandages around Dash's right arm, and he wasn't the only one. When he turned around with the plates in hand, Danny halted, his eyes trained on the bandages.

"What happened?"

Dash dropped his gaze, staring at his arm like he only just realized the bandages were there. "Ah, well," he shrugged, maybe looking a little embarrassed, "investigative journalism can be pretty dangerous. You know how I've been trying to get that interview with Phantom. I guess getting caught up in a ghost attack was bound to happen."

Danny set the plates down on the table. His brow had a slight wrinkle of worry as he hesitantly reached out to touch Dash's arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I mean," Dash looked away, waving the arm like it wasn't injured at all, "it hurt like hell when it happened. I didn't really want to leave without talking to Phantom, but Kylie insisted I get-"

Danny's head popped up. "Kylie was there?"

"Yeah, I needed to talk to her for an article I have to write."

"Have to?" Danny lifted an eyebrow.

"I was requested for it." Dash sighed. "Anyway, we were on our way out when the ghost attacked. It chased some people into another shop, and I guess it decided we were easier targets. It got my arm, but then Phantom showed up. It," he grimaced, staring at his arm, "looked worse, really. All bloody, and it did hurt a hell of a lot, but I barely needed stitches. I guess it was probably better that I left the scene anyway. I wouldn't want Phantom to worry about me when he had a ghost to fight."

"Yeah." Danny frowned. "Does it still hurt?"

Dash shook his head. "Just a dull throb at this point. But I mean," he leaned against the edge of the table, "it's not like this is first time I've gotten hurt by a ghost. You probably have more experience with that anyway." He didn't even blink when Danny shot his gaze toward him. "With your parents being ghost hunters and all that."

"More like ghost researchers now." Danny's mouth curled upward. "But if you're going to be putting yourself in a position where you could get caught up in a ghost fight, I think you should have some way to protect yourself."

"Phantom was there."

Danny rolled his eyes. "You're stubborn."

Dash grabbed Danny's hand before he could walk away. "If you'll feel better, I'll carry some kind of protection. Got any suggestions?"

Danny considered. "My parents did have a shield of sorts that could work. But I'll have to fix it up. Last time we used it, it got a bit, ah, damaged."

Dan resisted the urge to groan, loudly. He couldn't stand to watch them any longer. Maybe he was just bitter that Danny's relationship was going well when his had fallen apart. He turned when something caught his eye. It was only a plain business card, nothing special, sitting on the table in the hall. He picked it up and stared at it. Something about that name, Walker, nagged at him. Of course, he remembered Warden Walker, but the name seemed to stick out for some other reason. With a last glance toward the kitchen, Dan headed upstairs, taking the business card with him.

**Author's Note:**

> I would have posted this up on here a lot sooner, but I got stuck on a decent title for this. I'm slowly poking at it, so updates may not be consistent. I've been focusing a lot on editing (for the millionth time) an original story of mine, and that has been pretty draining.


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